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66 of 70 found the following review helpful:
 A very spiritual performanceJan 25, 2001
By P. Rah
"prahcello"
Bach's suites for cello are a must for any music lover. Like all of Bach's music it has an enlightening quality and Ma's performance of these suites is simply stunning. He throws the stylistic dogma that bitterly divides people out the window and shares his feelings about the music with us. Many people who have reviewed this set have complained about a lack of rhythmic drive and thrust in some suites, but I don't think that Ma is being slack about rhythm at all. If one listens carefully enough, one will hear that the cellist has a drive which makes absolute sense rhythmically.
I feel that this set is the most spiritual performance I have ever heard (and believe me, I've heard most of the available recordings), and in some suites (No.1, 2, 5 especially) Ma's playing has an inner quality that just transcends all possible musical dogmas and just lets the music be itself - one must remember that Bach was a deeply religious man and it shows in all of his works, and this religious spirituality is what I feel in this performance. Also, some people have complained about the over-romanticising of the suites. But music is not ALWAYS about stylistic correctness, it is about true emotion and Ma is a true comminucator of these emotions. Too much analysis of music has divided opinions too much, and while I admire many facets of the authentic movement, I feel that the insistence to play baroque or classical music in such a way means that one loses the point of playing music. Just because Bach lived in the 17th century, it doesn't mean that he didn't have feelings like people now. Ma's playing completely structured (something that was lacking in his first recording of the suites), and because it is so firmly grounded, he can take liberties which do justice to the music more than an injustice. If it was just passion all-the-way-through, you would have a very messy performance, but thanks to Ma's intelligence equalled with passion, one can really listen to the music and be transported by it. This is truly music that you have to close your eyes to listen to, because it is so pictorial. Great musicians have this thing in common - they can make the music breathe and tell a story, and Yo-Yo Ma is one of them. He doesn't let his ego get in the way of the music, but his mastery of the instrument and Bach's eternal music really tells a pictorial story and it is something to really savour. Gloria in excelsis deo!
37 of 38 found the following review helpful:
OutstandingOct 31, 1998
By George Durkee
I suspect I don't have all that well-tuned an ear, but Ma's latest recording of the cello suites is truly outstanding-especially when combined with the video series that came out with it. I enjoy this recording somewhat more than Janos Starker's EMI (?) recording of the cello suites which I also have. Ma seems to lighten the mood of them somewhat--more, as he commented, of a prayer. The mood in Starker's interpretation seems to me darker, lonelier (though I think it would be wrong to say that one is 'better' than the other. I find myself listening to one or the other to fit my mood.)Ma's greatest achievement, both here and in what he records of other stuff, is to bring an incredible multidisiplinary energy to the music; making it much more accessible to wider audiences. There's a scene in the film of him playing one of the suites on a traffic island in New York (?); his case is open for money and a sign next to him reads: "There is nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right notes at the right time and the music plays itself.--J.S. Bach" Bravo.
32 of 35 found the following review helpful:
exceptionally well playedDec 21, 1999
By Hans Stoeve
Yo Yo Ma- Inspired By Bach- The Cello Suites (Sony Classical S2K 63203) I love Bach with a passion and the cello is my favourite instrument to truly stir the soul with. Cellist Yo Yo Ma has never been a favourite of mine as a rule, not because he is not talented but simply because I've never really heard anything that moved me on that emotional level, which I find is an incredibly important aspect of music for me. Sure I quite enjoyed his tribute to Astor Piazzolla awhile back, but let's be honest every man and his dog was recording one and I wonder, if it had not been for the musicians he was using would it have been as good as it was. Personal opinion only, by the way. This recording though for unaccompanied cello changes my view on the man and puts him right up there with other interpreters of the music of JS Bach. This is also the music that accompanies the six part series which I have not seen so the music has to stand on its own, as it should. This is sparse music of incredible beauty and complexity. I believe YYM originally recorded the same suites for Sony back in the eighties, and for him it was somewhat of a personal voyage of discovery to not only re record them but also interpret them with the various artists and film directors he chose to employ for the series. I haven't heard such passionate playing in quite some time. Bach's six suites are incredibly rewarding to listen to and if indeed these are the pieces that musicians are measured up against in terms of degree of difficulty in playing, or level of emotional or intellectual involvement with their chosen instrument, the ability to not only colour the sound but also visualise the music for the audience, then Yo Yo Ma has indeed proven that he may well be the man who takes the cello to new heights.
39 of 45 found the following review helpful:
 Great AlbumJan 08, 2005
By John
I am writing because there were several reviews commented that this version is tuned lower and Mr. Ma is taking liberty to the music as written, concluding that this is not a good album.
This cello solo suite is tunned to how Bach inteded to be played. Modern music post-WWI uses 440 Hz for the concert pitch. In Bach era, they were tuned to 421-425 Hz for orchestra/solo/vocal. About half step lower.
He seems to play this piece on "well-tempered" tuning system and tuned to 421-425 Hz A, which is the reason I think this recording sounds more musical than the earlier recording (which is played on 440Hz A and more modern equal temperment tuning). It brings out more key color charcteristic and sounds more musical and pleasing.
If you are not sure what I am talking about you should do some research on tempered tuning system and variations of concert pitch. Pretty much all the modern orchestra plays music pieces completely different than what the composer intended.
12 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Inspired by Ma!Jan 19, 2006
By JOSHUA SELLERS
The music on this second recording of Yo-Yo Ma's is fantastic. Admittedly, the packaging is a little confusing (the title itself is a little misleading-- as if it were not comprised of Bach compositions). But the only real complaint is that the fourth suite is split in half on the two CDs. This would be easily solved by by putting 1, 3 & 5 on one CD & 2, 4 & 6 on the other.
But the important thing is the MUSIC & I'll nevertheless give this CD set 5 stars-- this is essential listening!
I think of Bach's cello suites like the Dao De Jing-- it is open to so many endless possibilities in translation. But what I find so appealing in this recording is Ma's fine sense of balance between a 'classical' & 'romantic' approach to the cello suites. Ma is certainly not metronomically rigid with his reading, but neither is it too free. I think he strikes just the right balance in these recordings.
The famous Prelude of the first suite is at a surprisingly fast tempo (so I thought) but it flows-- it is not hurried-- one almost gets the impression of movement but stillness at the same time.
Though for a solo instrument, Bach's cello suites often sound like two, sometimes even three instruments playing at once! And what is amazing is Ma takes on the different 'voices' like an actor playing out all the parts-- the different implied musical lines of this virtual polyphony are brought out by Ma's playing by differences in bowing, volume & character.
The recording itself is so amazingly warm-- you can really feel the wood in the recording. Yo-Yo Ma's cello dances, leaps, sings & soars here.
The sixth suite is my personal favourite, especially the gavotte. It was listening to the sample here on Amazon that convinced me that I needed to own this recording. It is one of the most beautiful things Bach ever wrote I think.
I have three other recordings of the cello suites, but I confess that this is by far the most human & the most warm. Bach's cello suites are perhaps some of the greatest music EVER written & Ma simply channel's the music so exquisitely here.
You have not lived if you haven't listened to Bach's suites for cello! Do yourself a favour & get this recording-- you won't be sorry! I will cherish this recording always...
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