Track Listing

1. Going To School featuring John Williams
2. IV. Allegretto poco mosso from Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano
3. II. Andante con moto e poco rubato from Three Preludes
4. II. Largo from "Winter", Op. 8, No. 4, RV 297 from the Four Seasons
5. Doce de coco
6. II. Largo from Concerto No. 1 in G minor for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 49
7. Cinema Paradiso: Nostalgia from Giuseppe Tornatore Suite
8. The Swan from Carnival of the Animals (Chamber Version)
9. Yanzi (Swallow Song)
10. II. Andante from Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra in A minor,
11. Soledad
12. No. 4 Mikin Pekko from Five Finnish Folk Songs
13. First Impressions featuring Edgar Meyer; Mark O'Connor
14. Song Without Words, Op. 109
15. Gabriel's Oboe from The Mission featuring Ennio Morricone

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16329 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2007-01-09
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Any new compilation CD starring Yo-Yo Ma is certain to please. This master of the cello takes the listener through so many types of music that the ear and mind never tire. The present selection is billed as a sort of "musical autobiography," and, indeed, it gives us a tour of Ma's musical life. The Silk Road Project is represented by Zhao's "Swallow Song," with its eerie, fascinating soundscape (specially re-recorded for this CD). We also accompany Ma on his excursions into the world of the baroque cello with Vivaldi or of the Finnish folk song (by Mamiya, a first recording). There are Gershwin's languid Second Prelude, with its intimations of the song "Summertime," and an all-new recording of a nine-minute heart-breaker by Astor Piazzolla ("Soledad"). Ma also gives us more familiar Brahms, Franck, and Saint-Saens. The compilation's mellow 65 minutes offer relaxing, beautiful music, all exquisitely played. Ma is joined by the best: Emanuel Ax, Kathryn Stott, John Williams (who plays piano on his own "Going to School" from Memoirs of a Geisha), Isaac Stern, and Claudio Abbado. This is a veritable Who's Who of superb musicians. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Ma exhibits the full range of his passion
Yo Yo Ma is known for pushing the bounds of classical music and his new cd is no exception. He began playing cello at the age of 4, and attended Julliard, Colombia, and Harvard. His primary cello today was made by Domenico Montagnana in Venice in 1733. Ma has played all types of music, from bluegrass to tango, and Appassionato is a celebration of his versatility. Ma appears here with many longtime friends, including Emmanual Ax and Isaac Stern. His close relationships are apparent in the absolute harmony of these collaborations. His new album opens with a light tune, a theme from the recent film "Memoirs of a Geisha." It then plunges into an exploration of dynamics between Ma's cello and the piano of Kathryn Stott. Reminiscent at times of Gershwin's playful "Rhapsody in Blue," the album is highly engaging, but it varies rapidly between sweet and alluring to soulful and dramatic. "Yanzi" is a ghostly tune featuring the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese flute. Brahms "'Double Concerto', Op. 102" with Isaac Stern is the finest showcase of Ma's flair and emotion, smooth and deep, with unbelievable heights. The tracks on the album were picked by Ma himself, to "represent various aspects of love." It is a carefully crafted autobiography of works recorded from 1978 to 2006, some previously released and some new. Far from a "best of" but spanning his career, Appassionato is a journey that spans the emotions and leaves the listener without a doubt that Yo Yo Ma is one of the finest cello artists in the world.

Irena Tully "Impulse Productions"
Yo-Yo Ma performs Appassionato with superb technique, and the music on this album is sublime, mystical, sensual, optimistic, gentle and powerful at the same time. A real treat for those who seek an emotional challenge and a profound artistic experience. The more I listen to this CD the more I am astonished by the great selection of the music. It's always such a strong moment when the Cello meets the Oboe in "Gabriel's Oboe" and how they reach for each other and rise together into the most mesmerizing interaction - one is transported to a world of beautiful feelings by this music and how it is played here.

There Aren't Enough Stars...
Of the thousands of albums/cds I have purchased in my lifetime -- were I to have to pick only one to keep -- this would be it.

The mark of the collection is an exquisite sensibility and technical excellence. In several of the pieces, you can feel as if your soul, rather than musical instruments, is being played -- but nothing mundane, boring, sophomoric, sentimental, or trite. The choice of material is intelligent and intuitive -- the taste of a great musician. The culmination piece by Ennio Morricone could arguably be considered the most beautiful 2 plus minutes of recorded music. It is nothing short of a cry to heaven.

Five stars -- hardly enough -- there aren't enough stars for me to rate this.