Songs of Comfort & Hope [B&N Exclusive]

by Yo-Yo Ma, Kathryn Stott

Overview

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Kathryn Stott continue their longstanding creative partnership with their warmly delivered 2020 duo album Songs of Comfort & Hope. Recorded during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the set initially began as a series of online performances Ma gave as a way of connecting with and offering solace to his fans. Using the hashtag #SongsofComfort, Ma posted his solo performances and encouraged others to post theirs in turn. As an organic outgrowth of that process, Ma then paired with Stott to record some of the songs, as well as others in the same spirit. The resulting Songs of Comfort & Hope follows their previous Grammy-winning collaborations, 1997's Soul of the Tango: The Music of Astor Piazzolla and 2003's Obrigado Brazil, and finds them performing a mix of traditional folk tunes, classical pieces, and jazz standards. There's a textural, ASMR quality to many of these performances, as in the opening "Amazing Grace, Prelude," in which Ma and Stott play against a backdrop of what sounds like a boat rocking gently in a storm at sea. Less theatrical, if no less captivating songs follow, including atmospheric renditions of Antonin Dvorak's "Going Home," Wu Tong's "Rain Falling from the Roof," and Francis Poulenc's "Les Chemins de l'Amour." Particularly vibrant is their take on "Scarborough Fair" as they each take turns playing the melody while the other offers shimmering, percussive accompaniment. It's that deeply engaging interplay between Ma and Stott throughout all of Songs of Comfort & Hope that makes the album both a compelling and relaxing experience. ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date:	04/02/2021
Label:	Sony Classical
UPC:	0194398410913

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Amazing Grace, Prelude & Postlude~Prelude
2. Ol' Man River (from Showboat)
3. Shenandoah
4. Goin' Home (from Symphony No. 9 'From The New World', Op. 95, B. 17B)
5. Jewish Life~No. 3. Jewish Song
6. Zdes' khorosho, Op. 21, No. 7
7. Moscow Nights
8. Over the Rainbow (from The Wizard of Oz)
9. Rain Falling from the Roof
10. Song Without Words, Op. 109

Disc 2

11. Fantasia on Waltzing Matilda
12. Scarborough Fair
13. Peer Gynt~Solveig's Song
14. Les Chemins de l'Amour
15. Marietta's Lied (from Die Tote Stadt)
16. Thula Baba
17. The Last Rose of Summer
18. Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)
19. Gracias a la Vida
20. We'll Meet Again
21. Amazing Grace, Prelude & Postlude~Postlude

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Yo-Yo Ma   Primary Artist,Cello
Kathryn Stott   Primary Artist,Piano
Graham Fitkin   Electronics

Technical Credits

Harold Arlen   Composer
Felix Mendelssohn   Composer
Graham Fitkin   Composer,Producer
Francis Poulenc   Composer
Erich Wolfgang Korngold   Composer
Edvard Grieg   Composer
Violeta Parra   Composer
Kathryn Stott   Concept,Selection,Liner Notes
Sergey Rachmaninov   Composer
Fritz Kreisler   Composer
Antonin Dvorak   Original Material
Stephen Hough   Arranger,Composer
Benjamin Britten   Composer
Oscar Hammerstein II   Composer
Roderick Williams   Arranger,Composer
Yo-Yo Ma   Liner Notes
Jorge Calandrelli   Arranger
Ernest Bloch   Composer
Ron Jaramillo   Creative Director
Mikhail Matusovsky   Composer
Steven Epstein   Producer
Barbara Pease Renner   Piano Technician
Wu Tong   Composer
Joseph Chilorio   Technical Assistance
Hughie Charles   Composer
Michelle Holme   Design
Caroline Shaw   Composer
William Arms Fisher   Composer
Tom Poster   Arranger
Vasily Solovyov-Sedoy   Composer
Ross Parker   Composer
Mark Mann   Photography
Harry Sdraulig   Composer
Ben Mandelkern   Executive Producer
Jing Ma   Production Coordination
Richard King   Engineer
Jerome Kern   Composer