AUTHORS:

Is Yo Yo Ma truly one of the greatest cellists of all time, or will his fondness for popular-style performances relegate him primarily to the historial status of a memorable but not necessarily great "pop" performer? RELATED TOPICS: (1) Can you suggest the names of other famous cellists who are (or were) as good as (or better than) Yo Yo Ma? (2) Can you suggest any truly great recordings by Yo Yo Ma or other outstanding cellists that might be included in a list of great cello recordings that could be published along with this kind of article?

If there is anyone out there who would like to write an article on this topic, I will consider publishing it on my Web site. There will be no monetary complensation, but your article will get lots of exposure on the Internet.

Thanks,
Mark Andrews
DecorMusic.com

Write an article?? I wouldn't presume ... Share my thoughts?? Sure-- fineYes. 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)

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The hardest knife ill us'd doth lose his edge. Shakespeare- Sonnet 95

What about the 'Aristocrat'?

I think Yo Yo Ma is very different from the other cellists. Other than playing the traditional classical music, he also get a lot of new attempt, such as the playing of the tango music by the Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla, and also the Brazillian music, which he has recorder a CD called Obligado Brazil. That's very good!!

But if we look within the field of classical music, I don't think he is the best. I think Pablo Casals and Rostropovich will be better than him, just compare them by listening to Bach's cello suites and Beeothven cello sonata , you will find Yo Yo Ma's cannot be regarded as perfect.

I would regard him as very good for poetic pieces and such, like the Schumann Cello Concerto, but not really for those like Elgar or, as above mentioned, Bach or Beethoven.

Yo Yo Ma is a great cellist, but I think he needs to choose his repertoire better, being that he plays too many so-so pieces. It is nice that he varies from the standard show-pieces, but still, one needs to choose better substitutes.

The greatest cello performance I ever attended was in 1999 at The U. of Texas, Arlington and the Saint Saens Concerto No. 1 was played by a student from Egypt named Victor Issa accompanied by the UTA orchestra. He had already had his left leg and right upper humerus removed because of a cancer called osteogenic sarcoma. He was playing with a prosthetic leg and shoulder joint. The quality of his performance was excellent. He died of his disease about a year later. Of course another tragic death of a cellist that many are already familiar with is that of Jacqueline Du Pre.