Johann
Sebastian Bach, Suites for Solo Cello:
No. 3 in C BWV 1009; No. 5 in C minor BWV1011’ No. 6 in
D BWV 1012. Yo – Yo
Ma, Barbican Hall, 4.12.2005
(ME)
The
phenomenon that is Yo-Yo Ma is known to everyone: even those
whose daily reading is the ‘Sun’ and who consider David
Beckham’s autobiography to be the most important book they’ve
ever read, are able to name the instrument of this universal
classical musician, so it was no surprise that he played
to a packed house on Sunday afternoon: in the midst of a
typically hectic London December, after a ‘Messiah’ in the
same hall on the Friday night, then ‘Billy Budd’ at ENO
on the Saturday, these two hours spent in the company of
what Casals called ‘the best music ever written’ were a welcome
oasis of quiet intimacy.
According
to the great Janos Starker, ‘Playing
Bach is a never-ending quest for beauty, as well as in some
sense, the truth… as the years go by, the understanding
grows while the technical means weaken’ - Yo-Yo Ma achieved
technical perfection early on, and now in his 50th
year it is fascinating to see that he is taking greater
risks with this music, even sometimes placing emotional
truth above the absolute neatness of a perfect musical line.
Ma is generally thought of as a very cerebral ‘cellist,
and given the wide-ranging nature of his musical interests
this is hardly surprising, but this is by no means an arid
interpretation, particularly in the playing of the Sarabande in No. 3: this is playing of delicately etched
detail, yet still delineated by those characteristically
expansive tempi. The second of the Bourrées
in this Suite showed Ma at his finest, the use of vibrato
astutely controlled and the tone quality both melancholy
and assertive.
Suite
No. 6 is the one for which I am sure most people have the
greatest affection: in my own case I think this is because,
owing to its extreme difficulty, it is not set for ‘cello
examinations and I therefore do not have the feelings of
resentment towards it which I do have for, say, Suite no.
1, the Minuets of which were the bane of my life during
that gruesome year of Grade 6. Or maybe it’s just that this
one is the clearest example of Casals’
opinion of this music: the intense Prelude, the fascinating
Allemande and above all the wonderful Gavottes seem
to say everything that music can, and more, and it was here
that Ma was at his finest, pushing the long phrases of the
Sarabande to the absolute
limits of expansiveness and seeking out the depths of the
Prelude even at the risk of the occasional missed
note. A few uncharacteristically scratchy bars aside, this
was playing of great technical security, immense passion
and deep understanding, reminding us that there are few
more refined and enriching experiences than hearing an acknowledged
master playing the greatest works written
for his instrument.
Melanie
Eskenazi
