If you want to understand why so many listeners feel so passionately about
Yo-Yo Ma,
Appassionato is just the place to start. The ardor of Ma's playing, the romantic quality of his music, the inherent tenderness of the cello itself -- all of these qualities infuse this career-spanning compilation. If the previously released
Essential Yo-Yo Ma cuts a wider and perhaps more representative swath through Ma's recorded legacy,
Appassionato does a better job of creating a sustained mood, emphasizing the many forms of lyricism the cellist has found in the melodies of Vivaldi and Brahms, John Williams and Ennio Morricone, Brazil and Appalachia. Chosen by Ma himself, this is a carefully curated journey, not a set of obvious "greatest hits," giving us the opportunity to encounter overlooked pieces like the touching slow movement from Kabalevsky's Cello Concerto No. 1. Another thread that runs through
Appassionato is Ma's close relationships with other musicians: You'll hear him accompanied at the piano by John Williams on a previously unavailable track from
Memoirs of a Geisha, and joined elsewhere by favorite collaborators such as Emanuel Ax, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor, and Isaac Stern. For the dedicated Ma collector, there are a handful of new recordings offered in addition to the old favorites, including one of Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words" (on which Ma is teamed with Ax); the charming Finnish folk song "Mikin Pekko"; and a languorous Astor Piazzolla composition, "Soledad," presented as a miniature sequel to Ma's
Soul of the Tango album. All of the performances, of course, boast the powerfully expressive playing that marks the best of Ma's work.
