I'm really taken with this piece that Yo-Yo Ma played with Itzhak Perlman and Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill right before Mr Obama took the oath of office. I listened to it once in real time this morning, and again in a re-run this evening.
I can only think it's because I'm perking up my ears again to cello music in preparation for starting lessons in the next few months. My ear has been tuned in to cello music for awhile now. I can pick it out in all kinds of stuff I hear on the radio and in movie and documentary soundtracks and even in commercials. It's the instrument that most closely resembles the human voice. It's like the three bears - the pitch and timbre are not too high, nor too low, but just right.
Anyway, this John Williams piece reminds me a bit of Appalachia Waltz, which Yo-Yo Ma played with Mark O'Conor and Edgar Meyer back in the mid-90s (the whole album is great, but that's my favorite piece on it). It has the same dreamy, meditative, summery quality that lets your mind happily wander. I love not only listening to Yo-Yo Ma play but also watching him play. He loves to play the cello. He loves to talk about the cello. He loves to teach people to play the cello. You can tell when you watch him. And don't even get me started on his Bach cello suites. I could go on for days...
1 comment:
Cate not only are you smart, but you seem like a classy chick (not sexist!) as well.
It's funny, when I first heard someone speaking of Yo-Yo Ma, I thought they were sayin' yo mama! Lowbrow I know. Be well.
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