Description

Yo-Yo Ma Plays the Music of John Williams is a 2002 album of John Williams compositions performed by Yo-Yo Ma and the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles. The album was recorded on April 46, 2001 at the Sony Pictures Studios, Culver City, California.

For an instrument with such rich expressive powers, the cello has long suffered from a shortage of great concertos. Leave it to John Williams, the composer best known for his popular, emotionally charged scores to Star Wars, ET, and many other blockbuster movies, to ride to the rescue with a new Cello Concerto, an intense, expressive, and rhythmically vital offering tailor-made for Yo-Yo Mas dexterous touch.

Like the composers Violin Concerto, this one is imbued with impressionistic textures and colours, but theres also a hard-driving, modern edge. Call it 21st-century Ravel. Williams wrote the concerto with Ma in mind, and its a test of even Mas formidable technique. It also boasts powerful orchestral writing, especially for the percussion and brass.

Mas virtuosity is dazzling, and his engagement with the music is typically deep. He makes clear that Williamss music isnt just for the movies; indeed, with his new concerto, Williams has done the cello a great service.

Yo-Yo Ma Plays the Music of John Williams celebrates its 15th anniversary this year and is now finally available on vinyl for the first time. A 4 page booklet with an extensive story written by John Williams is included.