Salonen’s concerto, which was written for Yo-Yo Ma, takes full advantage of the cellist’s preeminent gift for musical communication in an act of artistic collaboration of the highest level. The piece was premiered in Chicago in 2017 and has since been heard in cities across the USA and Europe.
“This ingenious sensibility can be heard in every section of his own work, the new Cello Concerto, in which he and Yo-Yo Ma had the instrument making sounds you’ve never heard it make before. Language can’t fully capture the glorious range and complexity of this concerto….” Chicago Sun Times, 10 Mar 2017The opening of the piece, in which the soloist is first heard emerging from the massed cellos, signals a Salonen score that is typically rich in ideas and orchestral colour, charting an irresistible trajectory between clouds of densely interwoven instrumental textures and moments of stasis and introspection; most notably during the central movement in which the soloist duets with his own electronically-looped solo line.
The recording is available as a physical CD, as a download from iTunes and other providers, and via Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and other streaming services. How to listen
