The last decade or so has seen the American cellist Yo-Yo Ma
turning in a widening gyre away from core classical
repertoire and toward the less familiar airspace
of World Music, a catchall that makes
neighbors of rappers from Marseille and oud players from Lebanon.
Ma’s musical flights have taken him from Asia to Appalachia
to Brazil
and beyond, but
for all his exploratory forays,
J. S. Bach’s Cello Suites
have remained a staple of Ma’s touring program. The Suites are Bach’s only work for unaccompanied
cello, a masterpiece companion to his sonatas and partitas
for solo violin.
Ma has
recorded the Suites twice, once in 1983 and again in 1998
(the later recording included a DVD project of six
accompanying films).
Certainly Ma’s commitment to and knowledge of the Suites was
never in question at Carnegie Hall, where two triangles of
additional onstage seating behind the cellist gave a
cathedral-like atmosphere to the proceedings and helped
create intimacy in what can be a forbidding space for a solo
performer. Ma notably eschewed turning up the volume on any
pianissimo.
Ma’s quiet playing quieted the audience and intensified the
performance; of course, it also infused the Suites with a
vast dynamic range, which is always welcome. Of the six
Suites, the cellist played the Third, Fifth, and Sixth, the
latter two being Bach’s most adventurous and offering the
most moments for wizardry.
From the opening Prelude of the Third, Ma, who is known for
his