His First Piece, Fauré S Elegy, While Skillfully Played, Seemed Misinterpreted by Yo-Yo

Over the last few years, Yo-Yo Ma has been experiencing a slump in his career with a number of cross-over projects between classical, pop, and country music which, while reaching a broad audience, failed to live up to the reputation as one of the greatest classical musicians of today. Despite his seemingly waning prowess, I attended a Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra gala concert at UCLA’s Royce Hall on January 12, 2009 in the hopes of seeing the artistry that has made him world famous. His first piece, Fauré’s “Elegy,” while skillfully played, seemed misinterpreted by Yo-Yo Ma as he seemed more intent in flaunting his virtuosity in a raw, emotion driven performance in favor of the delicate elegance the piece normally possesses; Its performance seemed to lack the depth of his more famous performances. The second piece, however took me completely by surprise. Golijiv’s “Azul” is a beautiful piece with too many influences to count, from tango melodies to Jewish riffs derived from devotional music. The song was constructed as four connected movements that weaved together: “Paz Sulfurica” (“Sulfuric Peace”), “Silencio,” “Transit” and “Yrushalem” (Jerusalem). Some of the imagery comes from Pablo Neruda’s poem "The Heights of Macchu Picchu." The eclectic nature of the piece reflects Golijiv’s influences from living in Argentina, America, Eastern Europe and Israel, which all seem to blend together. Although Yo-Yo Ma had previously performed this piece on another occasion, this time he played a re- worked version made for a famous American cellist, Alicia Weilerstein. Keeping in line with the title, the first movement “Paz Sulfurica” began slowly and set the stage for Yo-Yo Ma’s brilliant playing as he broke away from the accompanying musicians into an emotional solo that seemed to rise above the rest as he played higher and higher up the musical scale. The accompanying musicians included a second small group of soloists (like a continuo in a Baroque concerto) consisting of a strange electronic accordion played by its inventor, Michael Ward-Bergeman and a collection of percussion instruments played by Jamey Haddad and Keita Ogawa. Around the middle of the song, the players began improvising together in a way that seemed to propel their performance to even greater heights than Yo-Yo Ma’s initial playing at the beginning of the piece. When an artist is in their element, they sometimes to be in a trance, completely engrossed in what they’re doing, and this performance was no exception as the piece progressed for half an hour with no falter. The second half of the gala’s performances consisted of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra playing Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. As great a performance as it was, it seemed tame in comparison to Yo-Yo Ma’s performance of “Azul” and can’t be fairly reviewed for this reason. After seeing Yo-Yo Ma’s performance of “Azul,” the acclaim he has received for his mastery of the cello and his ability to move people with his performances appear justified. If Yo-Yo Ma continues to perform at this caliber, he will surely be a performer to watch out for in the future.