BSO with Yo Yo Ma last night

[Anonymous]

ty for putting me onto Shostakovich!

this is my favorite yo yo ma performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWWzmha1_jE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which Shostakovich?

I wasn't there but I'm assuming his Cello Concerto No. 1.

The Shostakovich is incredibly difficult, so I wouldn't say Yo-Yo Ma's talent was "wasted" on it (now, if it had been Lalo...) but if you were looking for a lyrical, virtuosic piece to swoon over, Shostakovich isn't everybody's jam. Probably Dvorak, Elgar, Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations, or Haydn D Major would have suited better.

Bingo, it was Cello Concerto No. 1.

Can I ask, are you a musician? Or how do you know so much about Shostakovich?

NP. Played cello in my youth, and this piece is definitely one of the "usual suspects" that turns up for a showcase for a solo cellist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, that does help me feel better about the experience. Still one of the cooler things I’ve done this year!

PP. I get it, I saw Joshua Bell do the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto at Strathmore a few years ago and was enraptured. But I absolutely love the Tchaikovsky concerto, so it was like peak experience. If he'd been playing something like Korngold or Berg, which I'm less familiar with and don't care as much for, I'd have been far less enamored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, that does help me feel better about the experience. Still one of the cooler things I’ve done this year!

Clearly you have not done very many cool things this year. I saw Yo Yo Ma when he was at his peak.

Some of us weren't alive then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since this is DC and not Boston, I doubt many of us were there.

Here’s why you should not snark if you are ignorant.

If you live in DC and actually knew anything about classical music, you would know that the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, aka the BSO, performs regularly at the Strathmore in Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Not Boston - he came to Boston last year in October and played Shostakovich, I had a great ticket for my first ever visit to Boston Symphony Hall and ended up not being able to go because I injured my knee and could not deal with navigating the venue. Really sorry I missed it, as I love the misery of Shostakovich.

Decades ago when I was in college I worked at our performing arts center and was thrilled to see Yo Yo Ma perform for our season opener and feature event. I paid for very good tickets and took my mother. This was years before YouTube and all that and I didn’t have a clue what the music was - it turned out to be some atonal nightmare that nearly made me cry. It was still great seeing Yo Yo Ma perform but the music was such a disappointment.

My introduction to Yo Yo Ma was by a high school symphony instructor and violist who recommended his recording of the Bach cello suites which I promptly bought at Tower Records - what a great recording!

Yo Yo Ma is still at his peak, by the way. Always take up an opportunity to see him live.

[Anonymous]

My dudes, I saw YYM in the AIRPORT and I swooned. The man is a legend and such a dear mensch.

[Anonymous]

I mainly check the entertainment thread for gems like this and whenever musical theater come up. Thank you, op and PP's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dudes, I saw YYM in the AIRPORT and I swooned. The man is a legend and such a dear mensch.

Not remotely a music expert but I adore that man. He is SUCH a mensch.

[Anonymous]

Unexpected follow-up. This is OP and I am now listening to this exact same cello concerto on YouTube, and liking it a lot more. May even give it a 3rd try.

I was very much in the “cheap seats” section and maybe that affected me at the Meyerhoff.

[Anonymous]

This is another follow up from OP. I regularly listen to this Shostakovich Concerto now. The first listen was not exhilarating, probably because of poor acoustics in the back of the symphony hall, but it’s a different story when I listen in my car. Beautiful piece. Have a good, if very rainy, weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is another follow up from OP. I regularly listen to this Shostakovich Concerto now. The first listen was not exhilarating, probably because of poor acoustics in the back of the symphony hall, but it’s a different story when I listen in my car. Beautiful piece. Have a good, if very rainy, weekend.

I posted several times on this thread previously and am laughing at these updates because I've had the same experiences with multiple pieces. Sometimes it just takes a few listens to sink in and grasp the full scope of a work. Or one performer's interpretation isn't your cup of tea but another's is. I used to not like the Haydn D Major Cello Concerto and now it's one of my favorite works; I play violin, not cello, but I know enough about cello to realize that it's SO much harder than his C Major concerto and am still kind of agog that Haydn wrote such a virtuosic piece, because he's not really known for that. Professional orchestras commonly use it as an audition piece because it's so exposed in both technique and intonation. But it took me several go-throughs to understand all this. Classical music is so amazing and varied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, that does help me feel better about the experience. Still one of the cooler things I’ve done this year!

Clearly you have not done very many cool things this year. I saw Yo Yo Ma when he was at his peak.

Yo Yo Ma is a national treasure, and it's cool to see him any year.

[Anonymous]

OP, now you can tackle the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No 2. (be patient with the 1st movement).

Or try Violin Concertos No. 1 (last movement easy to digest, first movement might take some time to appreciate) or Violin Concerto No 2 (maybe somewhat harder to grasp)

Or Piano Concerto No. 1 (lots of fun) or Piano Concerto No. 2 (sweet middle movement)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, now you can tackle the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No 2. (be patient with the 1st movement).

Or try Violin Concertos No. 1 (last movement easy to digest, first movement might take some time to appreciate) or Violin Concerto No 2 (maybe somewhat harder to grasp)

Or Piano Concerto No. 1 (lots of fun) or Piano Concerto No. 2 (sweet middle movement)

+1 NP here and I prefer Shostakovich’s piano concertos to the cello ones