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Yo-Yo Ma Packs Them in at Music Hall

Mary Ellyn Hutton
Posted: May 14, 2015 - 9:07:14 PM in reviews_2015

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Yo-Yo Ma
At 3,417 seats, Cincinnati’s Music Hall is notoriously hard to sell out, but it was easy for Yo-Yo Ma Wednesday night.

 An enthusiastic crowd packed the hall to hear the superstar cellist in a special non-subscription concert with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra led by music director Louis Langrée.

 Ma performed two works by Tchaikovsky, Variations on a Rococo Theme and Andante Cantabile for Cello and Strings.  Together, they made a wonderful combination of poetry and good humor.

 Seven variations on a rococo-styled theme by Tchaikovsky, the Rococo Variations  unfolded with a gracious exposition by Ma. Variation I was lithe and agile, while Ma engaged in some sparring with the orchestra in variation II. The dreamy variation III was capped by the cello’s blissful high note. Succeeding variations were sassy (Andante grazioso, variation IV), daunting (the cadenza-like variation V) and sublime (Andante, variation VI).

 The propulsive final variation – which sounds like laughter early on -- brought the set to a playful conclusion and the Music Hall crowd to its feet.

 By contrast, Tchaikovsky’s Andante Cantabile for Cello and Strings (arranged by the composer from his String Quartet No. 1) was exquisitely touching. Producing a soft-as-silk tone, Ma filled it with reflection, bringing it to an end with one long breath. Called back repeatedly, he encored with the Prelude from the Suite No. 1 for unaccompanied cello by J. S. Bach.

 The second half of the concert comprised a pair of audience favorites, the Suite from “Carmen” by Georges Bizet and Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero.”

 Langrée jumped immediately into “Carmen” with “Les toreadors,” taken at a fast clip to get the pulse racing.  There was passion to spare in the Prelude, while “Aragonaise” sparkled.  Principal flutist Randolph Bowman and harpist Gillian Benet Sella began the lovely Intermezzo, where the woodwinds were a standout.  Principal bassoonist William Winstead opened “Les dragons d’Alcala” briskly and beginning with a flute duet, the “Danse boheme” ended in a flurry of excitement.

 Flutist Bowman began “Bolero” soft as a whisper, the familiar score building to an exciting crescendo. Percussionist David Fishlock kept the intensity up with his reiterative figures on the snare drum. 

The concert opened with "Moz-Art a la Haydn" by Alfred Schnittke (1983), a deliberately comical work for two solo violins and strings. The 12-minute work, taking a cue from Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony, No. 45, began and ended in darkness. The players took their positions on opposite sides of Langrée, at one point walking toward center stage and back in a kind of gesture to performance art. There were snatches of Mozart, a delightful collage including a bold reference to his Symphony No. 40 in G Minor. In all, it brought a touch of levity to the concert.