Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax – Hope Amid Tears – Beethoven: Cello Sonatas (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 17, 2022 · Comments off

On Friday, June 4, Yo-Yo Ma and long-time friend and musical partner Emanuel Ax will release Hope Amid Tears, a new recording of Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano, on Sony Classical. Available now for preorder, Hope Amid Tears presents Beethoven’s five sonatas for cello and piano in the order in which they were composed, tracing an important arc in Beethoven’s development and approach as a composer. Joining them are Beethoven’s three sets of variations for cello and piano.

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Yo-Yo Ma & Kathryn Stott – Songs of Comfort and Hope (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 17, 2022 · Comments off

Five years ago, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Kathryn Stott created an album called “Songs from the Arc of Life,” which charted an imagined lifetime through song and its unique way of storytelling. It had long been their wish to explore this medium further, but they could never have imagined that the catalyst would be a pandemic that fundamentally rearranged our ways of living. “Songs of Comfort and Hope” was conceived in April 2020 when people everywhere were entering a dramatic new world, one in which we have been separated from our loved ones and many filled with fear and isolation. Featuring twenty one new recordings, ranging from fresh arrangements of traditional folk tunes, pop songs, and jazz standards to mainstays from the western classical repertoire, the songs on the album bring a sense of community, identity, and purpose, crossing boundaries and binding us together in thanks, consolation, and encouragement. This is music that tells stories, that marks occasions private and public, that gives voice to celebrations, remembrances, and all of life’s mysteries. They are songs that pay tribute to champions of social justice like Paul Robeson and Violeta Parra and to the troubadours of our joy, imagination, and sorrow like Wu Tong, Francis Poulenc, and Benjamin Britten. They are creations that, as Felix Mendelssohn once wrote, express thoughts that are “not too indefinite to be put into words, but on the contrary, too definite.” Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott hope that the familiarity and reinvention contained in this music offers everyone some comfort and hope.

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Yo-Yo Ma – Six Evolutions – Bach: Cello Suites (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 17, 2022 · Comments off

What do you mean, “Six evolutions”? It’s an intriguing title, almost esoteric… The cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who needs no introduction after a worldwide career of some fifty years, pens here his third (and ultimate, according to him) recording of Bach’s Solo Cello Suites. The first, while he was in his twenties, gave rise to enthusiasm, the second—in his forties—gave rise to emotion, so what will this final vision give rise to, now that he is in his late sixties? Serenity and joy, probably, and the completion of a triple discographic evolution. That being said, we still cannot explain the “Six evolutions”, and you will have to dive into a small corner of the accompanying booklet to find an indication, giving little more information, it is true, since it comes with no clarification: 1) Nature is at play, 2) Journey toward the light, 3) Celebration, 4) Construction/Development, 5) The struggle for hope, and 6) Epiphany. Well… Whatever it be, and despite what he said—and the amazing quality of this interpretation—let’s meet in 2038 to find out if he doesn’t decide to give a new interpretation in his eighties!

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Yo-Yo Ma – Salonen Cello Concerto (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 17, 2022 · Comments off

On the ‘Sony Classical’ label – In this world premiere recording, one of the greatest cellists of our time, Yo-Yo Ma performs the first ever Cello Concerto by internationally renowned composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. Yo-Yo Ma performs this stunning concerto alongside the world’s most contemporary minded orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen. Salonen has dedicated this work to Yo-Yo Ma. The Cello Concerto made its debut in Chicago, where it was performed by Yo-Yo Ma and conducted by Salonen. The concerto was lauded by critics who praised the collaboration between Yo-Yo Ma and Salonen. The Cello Concerto will be performed in London at the Royal Festival Hall on 24th February 2019.

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Yo-Yo Ma – Notes for the Future (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 17, 2022 · Comments off

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma announces his new album, Notes for the Future, set for release on September 10, 2021 on Sony Classical and available now for preorder.

Notes for the Future brings together extraordinary artists from five continents: across nine tracks, Ma joins Ang’elique Kidjo, Mashrou’ Leila + Narcy, Tunde Olaniran, Jeremy Dutcher, Andrea Motis, ABAO, Lila Downs, and Marlon Williams to explore our fears and hopes, reminding us that the future is ours to shape, together.

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Yo-Yo Ma – Not Our First Goat Rodeo (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 17, 2022 · Comments off

Sony Music Masterworks announces the long-awaited follow-up to the GRAMMY Award-winning The Goat Rodeo Sessions, with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile. The new album — Not Our First Goat Rodeo — will be released May 1 and is available now to preorder. Making its debut alongside the album preorder is its lead offering, “Scarcely Cricket,” which the group pairs with a live performance video — watch here. Following the album’s May release, the group will set out on a coast-to-coast U.S. tour beginning in August, followed by a second set of performances in October.

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Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, Emanuel Ax – Beethoven for Three: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5 (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 17, 2022 · Comments off

Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, Emanuel Ax - Beethoven for Three: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5 (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

Beethoven for Three transports listeners to the turn of the nineteenth century, when audiences would have been more familiar with the composer’s music in arrangements for piano trio, string quartet, or piano four hands than for full orchestra. Here, Ax, Kavakos, and Ma seek out the most essential elements of Beethoven’s musical language, pairing his second symphony, arranged for trio by Beethoven’s pupil Ferdinand Ries, with his fifth — among the most recognizable pieces in western classical music — in a newly-commissioned arrangement by Colin Matthews.

Performing the symphonies on three instruments is a challenge that yields a wealth of insights about Beethoven’s writing process. “The idea of actually being able to play the beginning of the fifth symphony with your hands is just an incredible thrill,” says Ax. “And you learn a lot about his kind of combination of controlled mania with an incredible lyricism — and you get so much of that in both the fifth symphony and the second … It was an incredible thrill to work on this over and over and over, just trying to get the notes.”

The new release comes just days before the trio begins a tour of the United States, with performances scheduled in Washington, DC (March 7), New York, NY (March 8), Boston, MA (March 9), Chicago, IL (March 11), and Stony Brook, NY (March 12).
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Anne-Sophie Mutter, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim, Yo-Yo Ma – Beethoven: Triple Concerto & Symphony No. 7 (Live) (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · June 27, 2022 · Comments off

Anne-Sophie Mutter, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim, Yo-Yo Ma - Beethoven: Triple Concerto & Symphony No. 7 (Live) (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz] Download

Anne-Sophie Mutter, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim, Yo-Yo Ma – Beethoven: Triple Concerto & Symphony No. 7 (Live) (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:13:52 minutes | 798 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yo-Yo Ma and Daniel Barenboim present a joint recording of the Triple Concerto and the Seventh Symphony on the occasion of Beethoven’s 250th birthday. The Album also celebrates 20 years of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and the interaction of Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yo-Yo Ma after 40 years!
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John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, New York Philharmonic – A Gathering of Friends (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · June 18, 2022 · Comments off

John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, New York Philharmonic - A Gathering of Friends (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

“Famed film composer” John Williams and star cellist Yo-Yo Ma are featured on this unique album, an expression of their decades-long collaboration and friendship.

“A Gathering of Friends” includes two concertos written by John Williams for Yo-Yo Ma, as well as excerpts from his film scores for “Schindler’s List,” “Lincoln” and “Munich.” John Williams himself conducts the New York Philharmonic
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Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble – When Strangers Meet (2002) [SACD to FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz]

SACD / DSD By admin · March 29, 2017 · Comments off

Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble – When Strangers Meet (2002)
PS3 Rip | FLAC tracks 2.0 24bit/88.2 kHz | Front+CD | 1.38 GB

This disc introduces Yo-Yo Ma’s latest and most ambitious adventure, the Silk Road Project. It explores the cultures that flourished along the Silk Road, the ancient trade route that for centuries connected Europe and the East. Founded by Ma in 1998, the project aims to create connections, mutual trust, and cultural interchange between people from different parts of the world through their only shared language: music. This recording includes music from Mongolia, China, Persia, Japan, Iran, Azerbaijan, and an improvisation on an Italian Renaissance street song, performed by musicians from all those countries, as well as America, on both Eastern and Western instruments. Ma, who participates in every piece either as soloist or part of the ensemble, plays cello and a Mongolian “horse-head fiddle.” There is also a Mongolian soprano, who sings a traditional song native to her region. For the uninitiated Western listener, the music requires some getting used to. Much of it is based on rhythmic ostinatos. The melodies use Oriental scales; the intonation is untempered; the music seems all color, texture, and atmosphere, without what might be called themes; and repetition takes the place of development. Contrast is achieved through sudden change, buildup by adding instruments. However, the music is often beautiful, delicate, dreamy, or peaceful; every listener will find his or her own favorite pieces. The playing is splendid, with much inventive improvisation. Inevitably, Ma’s tone and personality stand out, but he never dominates in fact or spirit. The booklet offers essays by Ma and the project’s musicologist, Theodore Levin, photographs of the players, and drawings of the Eastern instruments. (more…)

Yo-Yo Ma & Silk Road Ensemble – Sing Me Home (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 14, 2016 · Comments off

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma is back for a sixth album with the Silk Road Ensemble. Sing me Home is the companion album for a new documentary film called The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. The album is a musical exploration of the notion of “home”, from the diverse perspectives of the members of the Silk Road Ensemble. With a mix of traditional tunes and original songs we’re taken on a tour of homes around the world from the Balkans to China, India, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Mali, Syria, and the United States. (more…)

Yo-Yo Ma, Kathryn Stott – Songs From The Arc Of Life (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 10, 2016 · Comments off

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Kathryn Stott create a unique classical music experience with their new Sony Classical recording “Songs from the Arc”. This all-new recording also celebrates thirty years of friendship and collaboration in concerts and recordings for Ma and Stott. The album includes pieces they have frequently performed but never recorded, as well as a handful of discoveries. (more…)