Various Composers - Songs from the Arc of Life (Yo-Yo Ma; Kathryn Stott)

Information

1. Johann Sebastian Bach, Charles Gounod - Ave Maria
2. Johannes Brahms - Lullaby, Op 49 No. 4
3. Antonín Dvořák - Songs My Mother Taught Me, Op. 55 No. 4
4. Gabriel Fauré - Papillon, Op. 77
5. Jacob Gade - Tango Jalousie
6. Robert Schumann - Vanitas vanitatum, Op. 102 No. 1
7. Jean Sibelius - Was It a Dream?, Op. 37 No. 4
8. Gabriel Fauré - Après un rêve, Op. 7 No. 1
9. Edward Elgar - Salut d’amour, Op. 12
10. George Gershwin - Prelude No. 1 (from Three Preludes)
11. Frederick Delius - Romance for Cello and Piano
12. Fritz Kreisler - La Gitana
13. Giovanni Sollima - Il bell’Antonio, Tema III
14. Camille Saint-Saëns - The Swan (from Carnival of the Animals)
15. Edvard Grieg - The Wounded Heart, Op. 34 No. 1
16. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Valse sentimentale, Op. 51 No. 6
17. Olivier Messiaen - Louange à l’éternité de Jésus (from Quartet to the End of Time)
18. Claude Debussy - Beau Soir
19. Franz Schubert - Ave Maria, Op. 52 No. 6
20. Gabriel Fauré - Romance, Op. 69
21. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Melodie, Op. 42 No. 3
22. Manuel de Falla - Nana (from Siete Canciones Populares Españolas)

Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Kathryn Stott, piano

Date: 2015

Label: Sony

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Review

What is the most challenging repertoire for any artist to commit to disc? Bach’s Cello Suites, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, Mozart’s piano sonatas? No, surely it’s the bon-bon record, which is what this essentially is, its title ‘Songs from the Arc of Life’ notwithstanding. Such a name could, in other hands, have seemed pretentious or – worse – cheesy, but not here, for Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott take us on a musical journey through life that also celebrates their 30-year musical friendship. Where else to begin but with Bach, via Gounod’s gentle transformation into an Ave Maria of the C major Prelude that launches the ‘48’?

Highlights are many, and they skirt the dangers of slow-miniature overload deftly. ‘Après un rêve’ followed by Salut d’amour was one danger spot, but such is the directness of Ma’s tone, confiding but never sentimental, that it instead makes a telling combination, especially as the Elgar is followed by Gershwin’s palate-cleansing First Prelude. And then we’re back in England for the Delius Romance, a delectable dream of a piece. It’s not all slow and ethereal, though: the Tango jalousie by Gade (Jacob, not Niels) has real zest, while the extended Il bell’Antonio by Giovanni Sollima, with its arching cello lines that soar above a repeated-note piano backdrop, is warmly evocative. Even a miniature as hackneyed as ‘The Swan’ comes up sounding fresh, such is the imagination and reactiveness of these two artists. Another inspired touch is the inclusion of a movement from Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps, which is mesmerising in Ma’s hands. And by this point, you realise that the title of the disc is utterly apt: this is a meditation on life, not a bag of musical pick‘n’mix. We end as we began, with an Ave Maria, this time by Schubert. The recording is wonderfully immediate, as is the conversation between the artists in the booklet.

— Harriet Smith

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Yo-Yo Ma (born 7 October 1955 in Paris) is an American cellist renowned for his exceptional technique and cross-cultural collaborations that broadened classical music's reach. A prodigy, he debuted at Carnegie Hall at 9, studied at Juilliard, and graduated from Harvard in 1977. Celebrated for his interpretations of standard repertoire, he has also explored diverse genres, collaborating with artists from bluegrass to tango. In 1998 he founded the Silk Road Project to promote global artistic exchange. A prolific recording artist, Ma has received numerous prestigious honors, including multiple Grammy Awards.

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Kathryn Stott (born 10 December 1958) is a British pianist. Educated at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music, she gained early recognition as a prize-winner at the 1978 Leeds International Piano Competition. Over a 46-year career, she collaborated extensively with leading artists, notably Yo-Yo Ma, and recorded an expansive repertoire ranging from Fauré to tango. An influential festival curator and former Artistic Director of the Australian Chamber Music Festival, she concluded her performing career in 2024 and now focuses on teaching and mentoring emerging musicians.

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