eMusic Review 0
Yo-Yo Ma founded the Silk Road Ensemble in 2000 as a vehicle for exploring world music, and placing Western classical music within the wider context of the many cultures that traded goods, services, instruments and melodies over the fabled trade route known as the Silk Road. (The group’s later performances of medieval and Renaissance music from Italy, for example, remind us that Venice was actually the Western end of the Silk Road, and that what would become classical music was deeply affected by Near Eastern music and instruments.) Using his prodigious talents and his equally prodigious reputation, Yo-Yo Ma brought the Silk Road Ensemble to venues great and small, and perhaps the most telling sign of his success is that the Ensemble has continued to perform and record even without his direct involvement in recent years.
Still, fans of the cellist will be glad to hear him as a central figure in this recording, which brought together musicians from the U.S., China, India, Iran, Armenia and the Stans (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, etc.). The Ensemble has a classical commitment to ensemble playing, along with an open, improvisatory quality that reflects many of the traditions of Central Asia. The album’s opener, “Mohini,”… read more »
