2 New Multichannel SACDs From Cellist Yo Yo Ma

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma is one of the best known classical artists today. Sony Music has released his two most recent albums on Multichannel SACD disc. The albums feature Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project and Yo Yo Ma playing the music of composer John Williams.

Silk Road Journeys: Where Strangers Meet
by Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
(Sony Classical SACD SS 89782)

This album is the culmination of Yo Yo Ma’s latest effort known as the Silk Road Project. In this work, the well known cellist teams up with musicians from several countries in the East and West who perform on traditional eastern and western instruments. The concept is to present newly written and recorded compositions featuring Asian and Middle Eastern music. As a bonus, the album also includes some previously unreleased music from the film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

Album Tracks
1. Mongolian Traditional Long Song
2. Byambasuren Sharav: Legend of Herlen
3. Blue Little Flower (Chinese Traditional)
4. Mido Mountain (Chinese Traditional)
5. Zhao Jiping: Moon Over Guan Mountains
6. Micho Mamiya: Five Finnish Folk Song No.3
7. Micho Mamiya: Five Finnish Folk Song No.5
8. Avaz-e Dashti (Persian Traditional)
9. Franghiz Ali-Zadeh: Habli-Sayagy (In Habil’s Style)
10. Kayhan Kalhor: Blue as the Turquoise Night of Neyshabur
11. Filippo Azzaiolo: Chi passa per’sta strada
12. Bonus Track: Tan Dun: Desert Capriccio.

Yo Yo Ma Plays The Music of John Williams
by Yo Yo Ma
(Sony Classical SACD SS 89670)

John Williams is both a composer of film scores and of classical music. On this new album, Yo Yo Ma teams with the Performing Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles to perform several classical compositions written by John Williams. The album features extensive liner notes by Williams explaining the background and motivation behind each musical selection.

Musicians:
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
John Williams, conductor
Performing Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles

Album Tracks:
1. Concerto for Cello and Orchestra
2. Elegy for Cello and Orchestra
3. Three Pieces for Solo Cello
4. Heartwood