Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Unlike the recent Classic Yo-Yo, really a single-disc sampler of the recorded work of our true superstar cellist, The Essential Yo-Yo Ma purports to be something more -- the Yo-Yo Ma album to own if you're going to own just one. Where Classic Yo-Yo more or less alternated track by track between Ma's straight classical and crossover music, The Essential Yo-Yo Ma devotes one of its two discs to the classics and the other to a generous sampling of music Ma has explored from around the popular sphere and around the world, including selections from his Silk Road Project and from his disc devoted to the music of Ennio Morricone.
There's a lot to be said for this approach; Ma has really maintained parallel classical and crossover careers, and when it comes to actualy mixing things up on the concert stage, others have been bolder than he. The crossover second disc is nicely sequenced and remastered, concluding with a previously unreleased arrangement of "I Could Have Danced All Night" as a bonus track. It's a very reasonable greatest-hits group.
The first disc is less successful as a representation of Ma's abilities in traditional repertoire. No complete multi-movement works are included, and most of the performances included are of the encore type. The disc moves more or less chronologically, beginning with a group of Bach and Vivaldi melodies (though Ma's involvement with Vivaldi is underrepresented by the single Four Seasons movement included) and proceeding to Romantic and late Romantic works. Many of these pieces (Gershwin's Prelude No. 1, Rachmaninov's Vocalise, Massenet's Méditation) are arrangements, and a few could have been sacrificed to make room for the consistent warmth that Ma brings to, say, Dvorák's cello concerto. Still, there's nothing here that makes this set anything less than a good introduction to a great musician, one who connects with audiences in a way that was second nature to the famed virtuosi of the past.
© TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From €13,50/month
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Steven Epstein, Producer - Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(P) 1997 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Ton Koopman, Conductor - Ton Koopman, Harpsichord - Ton Koopman, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Tini Mathot, Producer - Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Performer - Antonio Vivaldi, Composer
(P) 2004 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Ton Koopman, Conductor - Ton Koopman, Organ - Ton Koopman, Transcriber - Ton Koopman, Harpsichord - Ton Koopman, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Tini Mathot, Producer - Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Performer - Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(P) 1999 Sony Music Entertainment
Ton Koopman, Conductor - Ton Koopman, Organ - Ton Koopman, Orchestrator - Ton Koopman, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Tini Mathot, Producer - Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Performer - Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(P) 2000 Sony Music Entertainment
Ton Koopman, Conductor - Ton Koopman, Organ - Ton Koopman, Orchestrator - Ton Koopman, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Tini Mathot, Producer - Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Performer - Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(P) 2000 Sony Music Entertainment
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Gaby Casadesus, Piano - Georges Kadar, Producer - Philippe Entremont, Piano - Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer
(P) 1978 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Steven Epstein, Producer - Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer - Kathryn Stott, Piano - Kathryn Stott, Performer
(P) 2003 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Steven Epstein, Producer - JULES MASSENET (1842-1912), Composer - Kathryn Stott, Piano - Kathryn Stott, Performer
(P) 2003 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Patricia Zander, Piano - Patricia Zander, Performer - Fritz Kreisler, Composer - Richard Einhorn, Producer
(P) 1982 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Jeffrey Kahane, Piano - George Gershwin, Composer - Steven Epstein, Producer
(P) 1993 Sony Music Entertainment
Linda Goldstein, Executive Producer - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Bobby McFerrin, Vocal - Bobby McFerrin, Producer - Bobby McFerrin, Performer - Steven Epstein, Producer - SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873-1943), Composer
(P) 1992 Sony Music Entertainment
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975), Composer - Emanuel Ax, Piano - James Mallinson, Producer
(P) 1988 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Lorin Maazel, Conductor - Lorin Maazel, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - PETER TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893), Composer - Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Performer - Steven Epstein, Producer
(P) 1992 Sony Music Entertainment
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Jaime Laredo, Performer - Jaime Laredo, Viola - Isaac Stern, Performer - Isaac Stern, Violin - Johannes Brahms, Composer - Emanuel Ax, Piano - Emanuel Ax, Performer - James Mallinson, Producer
(P) 1990 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Antonín Dvorák, Composer - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Steven Epstein, Producer - Kurt Masur, Conductor - New York Philharmonic, Performer
(P) 1995 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
DISC 2
Laraine Perri, Executive Producer - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Cesar Camargo Mariano, Composer - Jorge Calandrelli, Producer - Jorge Calandrelli, Arranger - Steven Epstein, Producer - Cesar Mariano, Piano
(P) 2003 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Laraine Perri, Executive Producer - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Sergio Assad, Arranger - Sergio Assad, Guitar - HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS (1887-1959), Composer - Jorge Calandrelli, Producer - Steven Epstein, Producer - Odair Assad, Guitar
(P) 2003 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Laraine Perri, Executive Producer - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Rosa Passos, Vocal - Rosa Passos, Guitar - Rosa Passos, Performer - Steven Epstein, Producer - Cyro Baptista, Percussion - Vinicius De Moraes, Composer - Vinicius De Moraes, Lyricist - Jorge Calandrelli, Arranger - Antonio Carlos Jobim, Lyricist - Antonio Carlos Jobim, Composer - Kathryn Stott, Piano - Kathryn Stott, Performer - Nilson Matta, Bass
(P) 2004 Sony Music Entertainment
Laraine Perri, Executive Producer - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Paquito D'Rivera, Composer - Paquito D'Rivera, Lyricist - Paquito D'Rivera, Performer - Paquito D'Rivera, Clarinet - Steven Epstein, Producer - Cyro Baptista, Percussion - Gustavo Tavares, Arranger - Kathryn Stott, Piano - Kathryn Stott, Performer
(P) 2004 Sony Music Entertainment
Hector Console, Bass - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Horacio Malvicino, Electric Guitar - Leonardo Marconi, Piano - Jorge Calandrelli, Director - Nestor Marconi, Bandoneon - Astor Piazzolla, Composer - Oscar Castro-Neves, Producer - Antonio Agri, Violin
(P) 1997 Sony Music Entertainment
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Mark O'Connor, Composer - Steven Epstein, Producer
(P) 1999 Sony Music Entertainment
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Edgar Meyer, Arranger - Edgar Meyer, Producer - Edgar Meyer, Performer - Edgar Meyer, Bass - Mark O'Connor, Composer - Mark O'Connor, Producer - Mark O'Connor, Mandolin - Mark O'Connor, Performer
(P) 1996 Sony Music Entertainment
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Composer - Edgar Meyer, Performer - Edgar Meyer, Bass - Laura Mitgang, Executive Producer - Mark O'Connor, Performer - Mark O'Connor, Violin - Steven Epstein, Producer
(P) 2000 Sony Music Entertainment
Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - John Williams, Composer - John Williams, Producer
(P) 2002 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Edgar Meyer, Arranger - Grace Row, Producer - Traditional, Composer - Alison Krauss, Vocal
(P) 2001 Sony Music Entertainment
The Mission (Ennio Morricone)
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Roma Sinfonietta, Performer - Ennio Morricone, Conductor - Ennio Morricone, Producer - Ennio Morricone, Performer - ENNIO MORRICONE (b. 1928), Composer
(P) 2004 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Roma Sinfonietta, Performer - Ennio Morricone, Producer - Ennio Morricone, Conductor - Ennio Morricone, Performer - ENNIO MORRICONE (b. 1928), Composer
(P) 2004 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Chen Xie Yang, Conductor - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - David Cossin, Percussion - Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Performer - Shanghai National Orchestra, Performer - TAN DUN (b. 1957), Composer - Steven Epstein, Producer - Tan Dun, Conductor - Tan Dun, Producer - Tan Dun, Performer
(P) 2000 Sony Music Entertainment
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - DAVID WILDE (b. 1935), Composer - Steven Epstein, Producer
(P) 1999 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - FILIPPO AZZAIOLO (Ca. 1530-after 1569), Composer - Colin Jacobsen, Violin - Mark Suter, Percussion - Steven Epstein, Producer - Sandeep Das, Tabla - Todd Reynolds, Violin - Joseph Gramley, Percussion - Shane Shanahan, Percussion - The Silk Road Ensemble, Arranger - Edgar Meyer, Bass - Joel Fan, Percussion
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Mark Suter, Percussion - Steven Epstein, Producer - Sandeep Das, Tabla - Li Cang Sang, Arranger - Traditional, Composer - Joseph Gramley, Percussion - Wu Tong, Arranger - Shane Shanahan, Percussion - Edgar Meyer, Bass - Joel Fan, Percussion
(P) 2001 Sony Music Entertainment
DaXun Zhang, Bass - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Colin Jacobsen, Violin - Mark Suter, Percussion - Gulia Mashurova, Harp - Steven Epstein, Producer - Sandeep Das, Composer - Sandeep Das, Tabla - Jason Duckles, Acoustic Cello - Ljova, Arranger - Ljova, Viola - Nilanjana Dey, Vocal - Alan Pierson, Conductor - Joseph Gramley, Percussion - The Silk Road Ensemble, Performer - INDRAJIT DEY, Composer - Jonathan Gandelsman, Violin - Alim Qasimov, Vocal - Esther Won, Executive Producer
(P) 2005 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Marc Michel, Bass - Jean-Luc Dayan, Drums - Claude Bolling, Composer - Claude Bolling, Producer - Claude Bolling, Piano
(P) 1984 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Stephanie Grappelli, Violin - Marc Fosset, Guitar - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Daniel Humair, Drums - Jon Burr, Bass - Roger Kellaway, Director - Roger Kellaway, Piano - Roger Kellaway, Arranger - Cole Porter, Composer - Cole Porter, Lyricist - Ettore Stratta, Producer
(P) 1989 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Frederick Loewe, Composer - Yo-Yo Ma, Performer - Yo-Yo Ma, Acoustic Cello - Steven Prutsman, Piano - Steven Epstein, Producer - Alan Jay Lerner, Lyricist
(P) 2001 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Album review
Unlike the recent Classic Yo-Yo, really a single-disc sampler of the recorded work of our true superstar cellist, The Essential Yo-Yo Ma purports to be something more -- the Yo-Yo Ma album to own if you're going to own just one. Where Classic Yo-Yo more or less alternated track by track between Ma's straight classical and crossover music, The Essential Yo-Yo Ma devotes one of its two discs to the classics and the other to a generous sampling of music Ma has explored from around the popular sphere and around the world, including selections from his Silk Road Project and from his disc devoted to the music of Ennio Morricone.
There's a lot to be said for this approach; Ma has really maintained parallel classical and crossover careers, and when it comes to actualy mixing things up on the concert stage, others have been bolder than he. The crossover second disc is nicely sequenced and remastered, concluding with a previously unreleased arrangement of "I Could Have Danced All Night" as a bonus track. It's a very reasonable greatest-hits group.
The first disc is less successful as a representation of Ma's abilities in traditional repertoire. No complete multi-movement works are included, and most of the performances included are of the encore type. The disc moves more or less chronologically, beginning with a group of Bach and Vivaldi melodies (though Ma's involvement with Vivaldi is underrepresented by the single Four Seasons movement included) and proceeding to Romantic and late Romantic works. Many of these pieces (Gershwin's Prelude No. 1, Rachmaninov's Vocalise, Massenet's Méditation) are arrangements, and a few could have been sacrificed to make room for the consistent warmth that Ma brings to, say, Dvorák's cello concerto. Still, there's nothing here that makes this set anything less than a good introduction to a great musician, one who connects with audiences in a way that was second nature to the famed virtuosi of the past.
© TiVo
About the album
- 2 disc(s) - 35 track(s)
- Total length: 02:33:06
- Main artists: Yo-Yo Ma
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Sony Classical
- Genre: Classical
(P) 1978, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000-2005 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Improve album information
Why buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.