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 Dvorák'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.
Songs of Comfort & Hope
Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott
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Songs of Comfort & Hope Review
by Matt Collar
Track Listing
Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amazing Grace, Prelude & Postlude | ||||||
1 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 04:05 | Amazon | |||
2 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 04:05 | Amazon | |||
3 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 05:22 | Amazon | |||
4 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 05:26 | Amazon | |||
Jewish Life | ||||||
5 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 02:16 | Amazon | |||
6 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 02:09 | Amazon | |||
7 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 02:56 | Amazon | |||
8 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 03:37 | Amazon | |||
9 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 05:27 | Amazon | |||
10 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 04:14 | Amazon | |||
11 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 04:54 | Amazon | |||
12 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 02:32 | Amazon | |||
Peer Gynt | ||||||
13 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 04:38 | Amazon | |||
14 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 03:07 | Amazon | |||
15 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 06:09 | Amazon | |||
16 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 01:58 | Amazon | |||
17 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 03:46 | Amazon | |||
18 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 04:12 | Amazon | |||
19 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 03:12 | Amazon | |||
20 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 03:04 | Amazon | |||
Amazing Grace, Prelude & Postlude | ||||||
21 | Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott | 01:43 | Amazon |