Last year, when Yo-yo Ma visited Taiwan he performed a cello concerto by Bach. This year, next week to be exact, Ma will visit again. But this time he'll play country. They don't call him the world's most versatile cellist for nothing.
Ma will be in Taiwan to take part in the Second Annual International Music Festival. In addition to Ma, the festival, which lasts two weeks, will feature performances by such heavyweights as Emanuel Ax, Leon Fleisher, Helen Huang, Toby Hoffman, Gil Shaham, Lin Cho-liang, Nobuko Imai and Hu Nai-yuan.
Ma will be the focus of attention as he always is when he arrives in Taiwan. But this time around his opening performance is certain to be unique. Accompanied by Edgar Meyer and Mark O'Connor, Ma's pre-festival performance on May 11th will feature selections from his latest album Appalachian Journey.
The album, which has been hailed by US critics as a powerful combination of original music and innovative arrangements of traditional American folk songs, has been making waves since its release in early spring. Most of the tracks are Appalachian-style, foot-tapping jigs, but a large portion of the album consists of country, jazz and bluegrass standards that have been borrowed and re-arranged into a classical format. The result is startlingly unique.
Further increasing the album's marketability are guest performances by country superstar Alison Krauss, who joins Ma, O'Connor and Meyer on two tracks: a ballad by Civil War era composer Stephen Foster called "Slumber, My Darling," and a new arrangement of the traditional "Fisher's Hornpipe." Soft-rock legend James Taylor can also be heard crooning away on a few tracks as well. Taylor and Kraus won't make the trip to Taiwan, but their appearance in the album is worth mentioning to fans who may want to purchase the album.
If anything can eclipse Ma's trip to the island, it's the overall level of talent that is massing in Taiwan for this festival. Musicians such as Meyer, who the San Diego Magazine calls "quite simply, the best bassist alive." Then there's violinist Lin Cho-liang who the New York Times says, "produces such an excellent, sweet tone from his instrument that one is tempted to simply luxuriate in its sound."
And luxuriating in sound is no doubt what classical music fans throughout Taiwan will be doing as the festival kicks off on May 12th. The line-up for the first night alone goes as follows: Emanual Ax, Leon Fleisher and Helen Huang take the stage to address Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 7 for 3 pianos, followed by Ma as he steps up to take on Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B Minor.
Then, the very next night in Kaohsiung, Hu Nai-yuan, Lin Cho-liang, Hu Nai-yuan, Yo-yo Ma and Edgar Meyer join forces to take on Rossini's Sonato a quartro in C Major for two violins, cello and bass. Following that will be performances of Dvorak's Quintet in A Major and Schubert's Piano Quintet in A Major. This, all just on the first two nights.
Performance Notes
The festival will make visits to Taipei, Kaohsiung and Miaoli between May 12th and the 18th. To purchase tickets call: In Taichung: (04) 292-5321; in Taipei: (02) 2391-1295 or 2341-9898; in Tainan: (06) 214-9441; in Kaohsiung: (07) 225-6360 or access www.ticket.com.tw
For more information call (02) 2702-5131 or access www.mna.com.tw.
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