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It used to be that you could hear Yo-Yo Ma do all six of Bach’s Cello Suites in a single program, or at least across a couple of evenings, but these days, you get half of the suites (we don’t even learn which ones) for twice the price. But, hey, it’s Yo-Yo Ma, it’s Bach, and Rostropovich is dead, so that’s life. Ma has lived with these pieces since he was a young boy and has recorded them all no less than three times across various points in his career, even doing a set of nature films to them. The miracle of these pieces is the way that Bach offers the aural illusion of polyphony by having the cellist traverse the “outline” of counterpoint across the instrument. It’s also worth noting that Ma’s moving performance of Bloch’s “Schelomo” as well as his jamming along with other pieces can be heard on the just-released CSO Resound release “Traditions and Transformations: Sounds of Silk Road Chicago.” (Dennis Polkow)
Tuesday, March 11 at Symphony Center
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