SIMPLY Baroque

It was only a matter of time before the remarkable Yo-Yo Ma went along with the tide and dipped his talent into the so-called authentic instrument movement. On this recital, abetted by Ton Koopman--one of the most respected names in early-music practice--Ma plays Bach and Boccherini. The Bach are all transcriptions and very fine ones, indeed--the alto aria "Erbarme Dich" from the St. Matthew Passion; the equally famous "Air on a G String" from the Third Orchestral Suite; Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring; and six others, most less well-known.

These are followed by two fascinating cello concertos by Boccherini, made all the more interesting by Koopman's cadenzas, which are pretty outrageous. Throughout, Ma's stunning virtuosity is matched by his taste and musicality. The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra plays handsomely, and the recorded sound is warm and full. "Authentic" or not, this is mighty fine playing, and wait till you hear those cadenzas. --Robert Levine

SIMPLY Baroque II

This is the sequel to Yo-Yo Ma's wildly successful Simply Baroque. Again joined by the excellent Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, with Ton Koopman conducting from the harpsichord, he plays with a baroque bow on his 1712 Stradivarius cello "reconfigured" as a baroque instrument with gut strings and no endpin and tuned a half-tone lower. This gives it a mellower, more subdued sound, though his tone, despite very sparing vibrato, retains its unique expressive warmth and purity. The program again features two Boccherini concertos and a group of Bach transcriptions for cello and orchestra by Koopman, including the Aria from the Goldberg Variations. 

These are only intermittently successful and make great demands on the soloist. Ma, of course, meets the demands handily, soaring to stratospheric heights, blending into the orchestra, and weaving figurations around it. The Boccherini concertos are the core of the record, notably the famous B-flat, for which Ma and Koopman went back to the originals in search of a more authentic version than the familiar one (which was actually conflated later from several others by Grützmacher, a cellist and editor). Here, Ma has ample opportunity to display his virtuosity, his charm, and his pleasure in intimate give-and-take with the orchestra; one can almost see him smile. The result is pure delight. --Edith Eisler

BAROQUE Concerti

Though the title Giovincello seems to make a specific musical reference, it is simply an affectionate Italian term meaning 'young man'. Only 20 years old when he recorded this album, Edgar Moreau "has already found his place in the great tradition of French cello-playing" (Diapason). Here he brings his youthful energy and virtuosic thrills to 18th-century cello concertos by Haydn, Vivaldi, Boccherini, Platti, and the world-premiere recording of a Baroque concerto by Carlo Graziani.
Release date: 6th Nov 2015

The centrepiece of Giovincello is Haydn's Cello Concerto No 1 in C major, which is joined by Vivaldi's Concerto in A minor RV 419 and three concertos by somewhat lesser-known Italian composers of the 18th century who all made careers outside their native country: Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) - an important figure in the history of chamber music - who spent much of his life in Spain; Giovanni Platti (1697-1763), who lived for more than 40 years in Würzburg in Bavaria, and Carlo Graziani (.-1787), a somewhat shadowy figure who became cello teacher to Frederick Wilhelm II of Prussia and whose Cello Concerto in C Major is given its world-premiere recording here.