Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Cellist and America's favorite classical musician, known for performing for eight presidents and winning Grammy Awards.
On the island
Eight records
Our dearly departed Leonard Cohen, there's something extraordinary about his voice. He sounds like the monk that he kind of wanted to be, but in musical form as a performer. … Alleluia is something that I think we all can relate to and feel that, yeah, he's one of us, we get it.
Kai Wessel, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Ton Koopman
The first time I heard it, I just… Wept. … it's like here he is completely enveloping and receptive and cuddling and cradling all of the human condition.
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor (first movement)
Leon Fleisher, Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell
For me the music of Brahms implies a humanistic struggle. … It's the second theme that just caught me because … he's able to actually create a struggle, a rhythmic struggle, tugging against … it's amazing.
Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 (first movement)
Jacqueline Du Pré, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli
I first heard her Elgar that she recorded when she was nineteen years old … she was like a massive shooting star that just entered into our planet space because it was an explosive talent.
I'm a great fan of Oscar Peterson … I was treated to the most magnificent performance. … It was so totally amazing.
Dame Janet Baker, Gerald Moore
Janet Baker has one of the most wonderful, glorious voices. And the song Morgen is about … Boy, has she been a great citizen, she's a real hero.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Konstantin Orbelian
For me this is the ultimate example of a communal experience … you see the audience just swooning and appreciating every single phrase. And it made me actually love the piece.
Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major, D. 929: IV. Andante con moto – AllegroFavourite
Alexander Schneider, Pablo Casals, Mieczysław Horszowski
This disc I wore out the LP. I listened to it when I was twelve years old for a whole year. … Every time I hear it or play it I get the goosebumps.
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:08How quickly did people realise it was you [playing cello at the vaccine centre]?
Some people did and some people didn't. Someone asked me on my way out, do you play with an orchestra? I said The Boston Symphony, I said, yes, sometimes I do. And maybe the best visual that I had was that there was an older gentleman who actually started hearing music and then he pulled up a chair as close as he could within the social distancing and just sat there and listened the whole time.
Presenter asks
4:48Does sixty-five-year-old Yo-Yo approach [Bach's cello suites] differently from twenty-five-year-old Yo-Yo?
Let's put it this way: I'm still trying to get it right. … with every stage in life, there are certain truths that we encounter. And with each time I've explored it, it's been through a different lens. The present lens is about actually saying simply, this is what I do. This is very meaningful to me. And if I'm a visitor to your community, that's what I can offer.
Presenter asks
8:38How did your parents come to leave China?
My father, who was born in 1911, was 25 when he left China … he ended up getting a PhD in musicology … And ended up staying in France for twenty seven years. … My mother … she left [in 1949] to go to Paris to pursue her vocal studies. And of course, they got married. … the reason we moved to the States … a lady who had founded a school … invited him to come teach at this school. And had that meeting not happened, I would have grown up in Paris.
The keepsakes
The book
I'm the type of nerd that would have relished opening any one of the 24 volumes. And just reading an article says, wow, who knew? ... It would be the closest thing to access of everything that I would have left behind.
The luxury
I would love not a tool as a survival thing, but a tool as something that I love deeply, which is my penknife, because specifically a Swiss Army knife, because I always travel with it because it's the most wonderful thing to have. It's the best companion to have under the greatest variety of circumstances I can find myself in.
Presenter asks
11:04What was your father's teaching style?
He was not the cuddly type. He was very analytical. He had really great methodology. … He was very severe. I had two tiger parents. Immigrant energy. … the room where I went to practice and do calligraphy and learn French and do ear training, that room was so full of work.
Presenter asks
11:56What do you remember about performing for President Kennedy when you were seven?
I knew that we were doing something kind of big and there were important people there. … there was an MC that evening, and he was Leonard Bernstein … and the conductor was Danny Kaye. … Danny Kaye … did such funny things with the orchestra … I was mesmerized by him. I didn't leave the event saying, I want to be president. I left the evening thinking, I want to be Danny Kaye.
Presenter asks
15:07What kind of impression did Pablo Casals make on you?
He said to my parents: Don't forget to go and play baseball. … he thought of himself as a human being first, as a musician second, and as a cellist third. And coming from Tiger Parents, that was literally music to my ears because it says, aha, you see, it's not all about cello playing.
“I'm still trying to get it right.”
“I left the evening thinking, I want to be Danny Kaye.”
“He thought of himself as a human being first, as a musician second, and as a cellist third.”
“If I never played again, that's okay.”
“Every time I hear it or play it I get the goosebumps.”