Yo-Yo Ma just performed a stellar Don Quixote here at Tanglewood with
Yuri Bashmet and the combined orchestras of the Tanglewood Music Center
and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa conducting.  He
also talked to us for about two and a half hours one evening in a very
interesting open forum with Ozawa and the Juilliard String Quartet.  Ma
is extremely personal and such a gifted musician....in all our rehearsals
of Don Quixote, he *never* played a note out of tune, in the wrong rhythm,
or without strong musical intent and personality.  I think he is one of
our greatest living musicians.  Bashmet on the other hand, who had never
played the piece before, had many problems with the rhythm in the piece
and this showed in his tone and inability to follow Strauss' dynamic
and articulation markings, leading to poor musical lines.  In Bashmet's
defense, he did perform a fabulous solo recital 2 nights earlier with
stunning performances of the Glinka and Shostakovich sonatas, and was
joined after intermission by Ma, Malcolm Lowe, and Emmanuel Ax for
Schumann's PIano Quartet...another stunning, musical performance.

Marcus Maroney
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