Album

Classic Yo-Yo is a greatest-hits collection for the famous Yo-Yo Ma, something he's fully entitled to after two decades of runaway success. It's "Classic Yo-Yo" in the sense that it presents well-loved and presumably durable selections from a variety of Yo-Yo Ma albums, not because it inclines toward Ma's straight-ahead classical recordings. In fact the division between classical and crossover pieces on the disc is about 50/50, and they tend to alternate. The transition from Bach to Astor Piazzolla works OK, but that from Appalachian Journey mastermind Edgar Meyer to Brahms might be a bit jarring. A greatest-hits album is a tough item for Ma because his recordings are so different from one another and involve such a variety of other musicians. As Ma himself says in an interview included in the liner material, "Collaboration is the best part of what I do, it's what I enjoy most about being a musician."

Here's the bottom line. Ma is a rare treasure of classical music, perhaps the only musician active today who can connect with a wide public in the way that was second nature to the great instrumentalists of the past. This disc serves as a sampler of his work. If you're new to Ma, or if you perhaps own one or two of his albums and want to hear what he sounds like playing Bach or country-inspired music or tango or Gershwin or John Williams or Rachmaninov, Classic Yo-Yo is for you. As a way of reliving great moments in Ma's recording career it is partially successful. It indicates something of the wonderful breadth of his musical interests, but it is less able to show how well he has realized the musical concepts he has undertaken. Still, several previously unreleased tracks will make Classic Yo-Yo attractive for Ma's confirmed fans. A hauntingly spare duo with bluegrass chanteuse Alison Krauss on the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts" is an especially nice bonus.

© James Manheim, All Music Guide

CD 1
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Cello Suite No.1 in G, BWV1007 Work Yo-Yo Ma Cello
1	1.Prelude	2:22			$0.99
Astor Piazzolla Composer 5 Tango Sensations, for bandoneón and string quartet (abridgement and arrangement of Sette sequenze) Work Hector Console Double Bass, Yo-Yo Ma Cello, Néstor Marconi Bandoneon, Leonardo Marconi Piano
2	5.Fear	5:22			$0.99
Mark O'Connor Composer Butterfly's Day Out Work Edgar Meyer Double Bass, Yo-Yo Ma Cello, Mark O'Connor Mandolin
3	Butterfly's Day Out	4:43			$0.99
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Cantata No.75: Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV75...7.Chorale: Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan Work Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma Cello, Ton Koopman Conductor
4	7.Chorale: Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan (arr. cello and orchestra)	1:30			$0.99
Antonín (Leopold) Dvořák Composer Slavonic Dances, B.145, Op.72 Work Seiji Ozawa Conductor, Itzhak Perlman Violin, Yo-Yo Ma Cello, Boston Symphony Orchestra Orchestra
5	2.Allegretto grazioso in E-	5:01			$0.99
George Gershwin Composer 3 Preludes...3 Preludes (arr. cello and piano) Work Yo-Yo Ma Cello, Jeffrey Kahane Piano
6	1.Allegro ben ritmato e deciso in Bb	1:42			$0.99
John Williams Composer American Collection Theme Work John Williams Conductor, Yo-Yo Ma Cello
7	American Collection Theme	3:29			$0.99
Edgar Meyer Composer 1B, for violin, cello and double bass Work Edgar Meyer Double Bass, Yo-Yo Ma Cello, Mark O'Connor Violin
8	1B, for violin, cello and double bass	3:59			$0.99
Johannes Brahms Composer Cello Sonata No.2 in F, Op.99 Work Emanuel Ax Piano, Yo-Yo Ma Cello
9	4.Allegro molto	4:37			$0.99
Dun Tan Composer Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, film score Work Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma Cello
10	The Eternal Vow	2:58			$0.99
Johann Sebastian Bach Composer Passion According to St. Matthew, BWV244...39.Aria (Alto): Erbarme dich, mein Gott Work Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma Cello, Ton Koopman Conductor
11	39.Aria (Alto): Erbarme dich, mein Gott (arr. cello and orchestra)	7:20			$0.99
Gabriel Fauré Composer Piano Quartet No.2 in G-, Op.45 Work Emanuel Ax Piano, Yo-Yo Ma Cello, Isaac Stern Violin, Jaime Laredo Viola
12	4.Allegro molto	9:11			$0.99
Sergey Vasilyevich Rachmaninov Composer 14 Songs, Op.34 Work Yo-Yo Ma Cello, Bobby McFerrin Voices
13	14.Vocalise (arr. voice and cello)	6:24			$0.99
Astor Piazzolla Composer Libertango, tango for chamber ensemble Work Hector Console Double Bass, Horacio Malvicino Guitar, Yo-Yo Ma Cello, Néstor Marconi Bandoneon, Antonio Agri Violin, Leonardo Marconi Piano
14	Libertango, tango for chamber ensemble	3:08			$0.99
Traditional, Shaker Composer Simple Gifts Work Yo-Yo Ma Cello
15	Simple Gifts	2:34			$0.99
Mark O'Connor Composer Appalachia Waltz, version for solo cello Work Yo-Yo Ma Cello
16	Appalachia Waltz, version for solo cello	4:25			$0.99