Yo Yo Ma

In 1995, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor joined forces on Appalachia Waltz, the first of a series of Sony Classical albums celebrating the varied musical textures of Americana. Over the course of six years, several albums were cut, among them Short Trip Home, Liberty!, Uncommon Ritual, and Midnight on the Water, in addition to the Grammy-winning Appalachia Waltz. Each project may have had its own specific instrumental focus, although the shared theme was clearly to obfuscate the genre lines that separate classical and traditional American music on a 200-year journey from the concert halls of Britain to the Shenandoah Valley.

Ludwig van Beethoven is a fixture in the career of the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim: “Beethoven’s music is universal, no matter where you are in the world – it speaks to all people.” Before his thirtieth birthday, Barenboim had made legendary recordings of all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas and concertos. That said, he has also not shied away from the composer’s less frequently played works, those less liked by audiences and critics alike; on the contrary, he has approached them with great passion.

This new recording celebrates a triple anniversary – the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, the 20th birthday of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, and it will be released 40 years after the legendary Triple Concerto recording made by Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yo-Yo Ma under Herbert von Karajan.

There are people who buy everything Yo-Yo Ma releases, and that's a good thing: his incessant musical curiosity and his ability to carry his audience with him constitute a true bright spot in today's classical music scene. Fans of the two Simply Baroque discs Ma recorded with Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra will find much to like in Vivaldi's Cello, featuring the same musicians and offering several Vivaldi cello concertos plus Vivaldi works arranged for cello and ensemble by Koopman.

The classical works of Tan Dun typically fuse compositional elements from the East and the West, but for his soundtrack to Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, musical cultures aren't so much blurred as coexistent side-by-side. While the magical martial arts film doesn't boast music as stunning as its visuals, this soundtrack is still beautiful and elegant, a perfect complement to the movie's mysticism. Just don't expect epic, John Williams-inspired bombast here. On "A Wedding Interrupted," the riveting brass and string section introduction segues into soft-hued meditations; "Night Fight" boasts spiky percussion but sounds more reminiscent of Stomp than a kung-fu scene. That said, Dun's understated score–filled with Asian instrumentation, Romantic cello solos from Yo-Yo Ma, and a token theme song with vocals by Asian pop star CoCo Lee–is still a fascinating listen. Fans of Ma and Dun shouldn't pass this up.

The 40-year friendship between two musical titans, John Williams & Yo-Yo Ma, reaches a new peak with “A Gathering of Friends.” The incredible warmth & brilliance of composer/conductor John Williams is felt throughout this album of both his concert music (a newly revised Cello Concerto) and his legendary film music, including a powerful new arrangement of the Theme from “Schindler’s List,” brought to life by Yo-Yo Ma and the world-renowned New York Philharmonic. Another highlight from the John Williams film music catalog is Yo-Yo Ma’s performance of “With Malice Toward None,” an inviting and uplifting melody from the movie “Lincoln,” inspired by Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address.

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.