Bach’s Cello Suites, Live With Yo-Yo Ma
Classical 99.5 | Classical Radio Boston
Live from WCRB’s Fraser Performance Studio on Sunday, May 24 2020, Yo-Yo Ma offered Bach’s iconic works in memory of those lost to the global pandemic and in tribute to the resilience of all who are confronting the challenges of these times.
Today’s world moves quickly. The ways we travel from place to place, or communicate with each other; the pace at which we consume news and binge-watch our favorite TV shows – everything is optimized to give us the fastest way to move from point A to point B. So there is something special about the things that endure. There is no better example of this, I think, than the music of J.S. Bach, which has enchanted us for hundreds of years, and yet still offers new discoveries.
Yo-Yo Ma understands this – not just Bach’s lasting power in history, but in his own career, too. In 2018, he released a recording of Bach’s six cello suites, called “Six Evolutions;” it was his third time recording the suites over the course of his life, and, he’s said, it will be his last.