Even at Red Rocks, a show business landmark where spectacle is an everyday occurrence, an appearance by classical musician Yo-Yo Ma was an extraordinary event.
Picture it — if you weren’t one of the 9,000 people who witnessed the concert live Wednesday evening — one man, one cello, two hours and 15 minutes of Bach. No light show, none of those electric guitar riffs or drum solos that the rock ‘n’ roll sanctuary is known for, a hushed crowd. Historic.
Ma played all six of Bach’s unaccompanied cello suites with barely time to breath in between. It was a music marathon, certainly for the audience, who even at classical events is never asked to sit still for so long without an intermission. And certainly for the 62-year-old cellist, craftily coordinating fingers and bow over four thin strings, churning out hundreds of thousands of notes, all from memory.
It sounds superhuman, but it was just the opposite. It was fully human, perfect and imperfect at the same time, easy and difficult, marked by attempt and reward. This is Ma’s skill. He doesn’t make his music something to marvel at. He makes it a gift. Created for you himself.
Of course, Red Rocks Amphitheater gets some of the credit for the concert’s unique charm. Wednesday offered up one of those perfect Front Range nights: a dark, dry sky, just enough swirling wind to add drama to the performance. And those rocks, naked in the reflected stage light, connecting geology and geography and time, making 300-year-old compositions, written a world away, feel relevant to this particular Colorado moment.
No doubt that Bach, too, enabled it. His suites are beloved — and for many good reasons. One by one, they offer up abstract showcases for emotions high and low. The first pulls you in with a warm melody; the third thrills you with a succession of rapid-fire notes; the fourth is so romantic.
“I think of Bach as a scientist-composer, in that he tries to describe all of nature and all of human nature,” Ma said in an interview backstage before the show.
“And he doesn’t put himself at the center, which is amazing. You know, like a scientist doesn’t say, ‘I know everything,’ but more like, ‘this is what I observe, this is what we found, and this is where we are.’ “
Bach made the suites a challenge for musicians. They are extremely difficult to play and there’s no actual demand for them to be performed all at once. But musicians can’t help themselves. The suites, combined, are a test for players and a route into the pantheon of great cellists.
And they are so perfect for that. The pieces all follow a strict classical form for suites, including, somewhere in the middle of each, a light and lively break for listeners in the form of a baroque dance tune. But Bach left places for musicians to add their personal signatures. Players get to pick the tempo, not the composer, and there are numerous cadenzas where personal flourish carries the day. No cellist interprets them the same.
Ma has been playing Bach’s music since the age of four, and he has come back to these suites again and again. He began his real attempts to master them in his 20s, and each time he returns, it marks a different stage in his development as an artist.
“And so, in that sense, this music has kind of been a friend of mine,” he said. “A supporter, a companion, a friend through thick and thin.”
That coincides with their wider appeal, he believes. People come to him frequently, talking about the power of the suites in their lives. They offer inspiration to listeners, solace in times of need and optimism in the face of illness and recovery, the sort of deep distraction that makes them relaxing, familiar, necessary. Ma has heard countless stories.
In that way, the suites carry a larger message about how people connect, not just to art but also to one another. And enabling that communion has become Ma’s mission at this point in his career. He’s learned the importance of bringing people together, and not always in easy ways.
“You know, I remember I was actually in Denver at 9 a.m. on September 11th (2011). My wife called me and said, ‘Do you know what’s happening?’ And I said, ‘No,’ and turned on the television.”
He was scheduled to appear that night in Colorado Springs, to perform Elgar’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. With so much uncertainty in the air because of the massive terrorist attack in New York, there was talk of canceling the concert.
But it went on, and served as both solace and unifier in the face of trauma. Ma, in a move that is now Colorado legend, ended his performance that night by taking a place in the ranks of the orchestra, alongside the other cellists, instead of center stage as soloists always do.
His personal repertoire has expanded in the past decade-plus to include music from around the globe, classical sounds from beyond Europe and into Africa, Asia, South America and elsewhere. As a player and a celebrity, he now champions composers of all musical styles.
On this current tour, which starts in Denver, he is putting together community conversations in the cities he visits. The day after the Red Rocks show, Ma scheduled informal appearances at a refugee gathering place in Aurora; at Denver’s Youth on Record, which helps talented teens — many from economically challenged families — develop interests in hip-hop music and dance; at RedLine, which works with homeless residents in its RiNo neighborhood; and at Re:Vision, an important center for Latino culture in Westwood, one of the city’s poorest areas.
He’s coordinating with local musicians and artists, like Jonathan Saiz, who was commissioned to create a piece called “No. 1 Prelude Composition” to accompany the events. Saiz built the piece in 400 parts, with a plan to give them all away at no charge at Thursday’s gatherings.
“I think culture turns ‘the other’ into ‘us,’ ” Ma said. “That’s why I’m a strong proponent of cultural action.”
He defines culture broadly and without hierarchy. He’s known for his classical music, but its contribution, he said, is equal to what others bring to the table to make society work. These are fractious times, he believes, and culture can make communities stronger.
“During times of anxiety and fear, well, what can we do? We come together. We come together to give each other whatever we have, support.”
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