Amazon.co.uk Review
Except for one "previously unreleased" recording and two new ones, this is a compilation of segments taken from older Yo-Yo Ma CDs, perhaps to whet listeners' appetites to hear the entire records. The disc represents a triumph of performance over material. The programme consists of short pieces and single movements of long ones, and serves to display Ma's incredible versatility, his spectacular instrumental and musical gifts and his amazing ability to invest everything he plays with the same commitment and emotional concentration. There is no logic to the sequence, except that it begins and ends with solo cello. Bach, (whom Ma plays tuned normally when unaccompanied) tuned low with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, may justify the CD's title, but seems out of place, and juxtaposing him with O'Connor and Piazzolla is jarring, though the Tangos are beautiful. The transcription of Dvorák's lovely E-minor Slavonic Dance, despite the participation of violinist Itzhak Perlman and his golden tone, sounds like a film soundtrack: all bravura and cheap effects. The playing's the thing, and it is stunning--not only Ma's, but that of all his collaborators, from vocalists Bobby McFerrin and Alison Krauss to pianist Emanuel Ax, Ma's duo partner of 25 years, with whom he plays the Finale of Brahms' Second Cello Sonata; that is what you may find yourself humming at the end. --
Edith Eisler