Audio CD review:
Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Antonin Dvorak, Gabriel Faure, George Gershwin, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor, Astor Piazzolla, Sergey Rachmaninov, Dun Tan - Classic Yo-Yo

Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Antonin Dvorak, Gabriel Faure, George Gershwin, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor, Astor Piazzolla, Sergey Rachmaninov, Dun Tan - Classic Yo-Yo

Band: Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Antonin Dvorak, Gabriel Faure, George Gershwin, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor, Astor Piazzolla, Sergey Rachmaninov, Dun Tan Title: Classic Yo-Yo Rating: Release Date: 18 September, 2001 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major 2: Prelude 3: Fear Tango 4: Butterfly's Day Out 5: Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan 6: Slavonic Dance No. 2 in E minor, Op.72 7: Three Preludes 8: Allegro ben ritmato e deciso 9: American Collection Theme 10: Sonata for Cello and Piano in F Major, Op. 99 11: IV. Allegro molto 12: The Eternal Vow from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 13: Erbarme dich (Matthdus-Passion) 14: Quartet for Piano & Strings No. 2 in G minor, Op. 45 15: IV. Allegro molto 16: Vocalise 17: Libertango 18: Simple Gifts 19: Appalachia Waltz

Editoral Review The disc represents a triumph of performance over material. Except for one "previously unreleased" recording and two new ones, this is a compilation of segments taken from older Yo-Yo Ma CDs, perhaps to whet listeners' appetite to hear the entire records. The program consists of short pieces and single movements of long ones and serves to display Yo-Yo Ma's extraordinary versatility, his spectacular instrumental and musical gifts, and his remarkable ability to invest everything he plays with the same commitment and emotional concentration. There is no logic to the sequence, except that it begins and ends with solo cello. Bach, whom Ma plays tuned normally when unaccompanied and tuned low with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, may justify the CD's title but seems out of place. Moreover, juxtaposing him with O'Connor and Piazzolla is jarring, though the Tangos are beautiful. The transcription of Dvorák's lovely E-minor Slavonic Dance, despite the participation of violinist Itzhak Perlman and his golden tone, sounds like a movie soundtrack: all bravura and cheap effects. The playing's the thing, and it is stunning, not only Yo-Yo Ma's, but that of all his collaborators, from vocalists Bobby McFerrin and Alison Krauss to pianist Emanuel Ax, Ma's duo partner of 25 years. Ax joins Ma for the Finale of Brahms's second cello sonata; that is what you may find yourself humming at the end. --Edith Eisler .. You can see a complete list of all Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Antonin Dvorak, Gabriel Faure, George Gershwin, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor, Astor Piazzolla, Sergey Rachmaninov, Dun Tan discography, or go back to the Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Antonin Dvorak, Gabriel Faure, George Gershwin, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor, Astor Piazzolla, Sergey Rachmaninov, Dun Tan tabs