Write an article?? I wouldn't presume
... Share my thoughts?? Sure-- fine
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Madhuthesadhu
Is Yo Yo Ma truly one of the great cellists of all time(?)
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Yes. I don't think there's any serious challenge to the appelation "best of his generation." Can he be mannered in live preformance? Yes (e.g.: Eschenbach/Philadelphia/R. Strauss
Don Quixote- WT
). But then, so could Isaac Stern, and of course Pavarotti, an artist fresh on all of our minds. Yo Yo Ma attained his success and fortune the old-fashioned way (he earned it*).
I think one has to tap history to name cellists of similar repute to Ma. Of course, the recently deceased Mstislav Rostropovich enters into the mix, as does his Master Class pupil Jacqueline du Pre', who has fervent admirers (including me). Pablo Casals is the granddaddy of the instrument, but much of his studio work dates from the time of acoustical recording (c. the onset of the Great Depression). Finally, add Gregor Piatigorksky, who used to trio with Heifetz & Rubinstein in the days when giants walked the earth, and I believe we've named the five most prominent cello virtuosos of all time.
(* added for the benefit of those who weren't exposed to John Houseman and his well-known commercial)