For Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, New Impossibilities capt ures an extraordinary yearlong Silk Road Chicago celebration. Partnering with th e City of Chicago and its leading arts and cultural organizations, in performanc es, exhibitions, and workshops, the Silk Road Project traced the weave of tradit ion and innovation through Chicago. In New Impossibilities, recorded duri ng a series of sold-out concerts at Daniel Burnham's historic Orchestra Hall, Yo -Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble convey the essence of their unique creative cu ltural exchange.More from Yo-Yo Ma
Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon
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Appassionato
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Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone
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Obrigado Brazil
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Vivaldi's Cello
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The Essential Yo-Yo Ma
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This latest addition to Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road project is a thrill a minute. The most "famous" composer represented here is Osvaldo Golijov, whose "Night of the Flying Horses" fascinates with its sampling of "Je crois entendre encore" from Bizet's Pearl Fishers, while a high violin line and mournful cello alternate above it; the piece goes wild about two-thirds of the way through in the section called, appropriately, "Gallop." The other composers all offer equally fascinating pieces as well: the thrilling rhythms of Rabih Abou-Khalil's "Arabian Waltz"; Zhou Long's "Song of the Eight Unruly Poets" (what a title!), with its high-pitched strings (members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra take part in many of the works); the cinematic battle music of "Ambush from Ten Sides," featuring the twangy, acidic tones of the pipa, which ends in a true conflagration of violence, complete with shouting; and "Vocussion," a brief, cool piece with scat singing and boom-boxing. There's more -- much more -- in this portrait of world music, and it's all wonderful. --Robert Levine
