ソングス・オブ・コンフォート・アンド・ホープ

世界に響け!
やすらぎと希望の旋律(うた)2020年新録音

現代最高のチェリスト、ヨーヨー・マの2020年新録音。
ヨーヨー・マはコロナ禍の3月、自宅から「ドヴォルザーク:家路」の演奏を#SongsOfComfortとして投稿、その動画はSNS上で瞬く間に世界中に拡散された。そしてかつて経験した事のないパンデミックに直面し、不安と孤立感に苛まれる私たちに一時の安らぎと希望を届けるため企画されたのがこのアルバムなのだ。"楽曲とは感情の入った小さなカプセル"と語る2人が奏でるのはクラシック名曲から「虹のかなたに」や世界各地の伝承曲までバラエティ豊か。特別な想いを込めて奏される21曲は時代やジャンルをこえて聞くものの心にそっと寄り添う。ヨーヨー・マとキャサリン・ストットは1985年から録音で共演を重ね、2人がタッグを組むのは2015年発表『ソングス・フロム・アーク・オブ・ライフ』以来となる。
ソニー・ミュージック

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, 1997s Soul of the Tango: The Music of Astor Piazzolla and 2003s Obrigado Brazil, and finds them performing a mix of traditional folk tunes, classical pieces, and jazz standards. Theres 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 Dvoraks Going Home, Wu Tongs Rain Falling from the Roof, and Francis Poulencs Les Chemins de lAmour. Particularly vibrant is their take on Scarborough Fair as they each take turns playing the melody while the other offers shimmering, percussive accompaniment. Its 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