Columbus Symphony Orchestra – Gala Event Featuring Yo-Yo Ma

My wife and I started the evening out by going to a restaurant called “M”. For fear of being labeled as an elitist or something, please understand that Columbus is not a DC, Chicago, NY, or high–end resort area where real 4 or 5 star restaurants abound. We have been to some very nice restaurants around the US and “M” was definitely a surprise for us. The menu was excellent, the table service was excellent, and the atmosphere was that of one I would typically expect in a bigger city. It reminds me of some of the Emerill and Four Seasons restaurants we have dined in; “M” was probably a solid 4 in my opinion. We really enjoyed ourselves.

We hit the Ohio Theatre and from the moment we were within eye-sight of it, you could tell this was a huge event. There was so much excitement. Because I am short on time I will categorize my comments.

Music played (in order):
Schubert’s “Overture to Rosamunde”; just the Columbus Symphony Orchestra
Haydn’s “Cello Concerto in C Major”; Yo-Yo Ma
Saint-Saens’ “Concerto No.1 in A Minor”; Yo-Yo Ma
Schubert’s “Cello Quintet”; led by Yo-Yo Ma with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra’s Carpe Diem String Quartet.
Ravel’s “Bolero”; Columbus Symphony Orchestra; Yo-Yo Ma played as a contributor and sat in the back row of the cellos amidst pleads from the principal cellist to have Ma sit front and center. Even one of the bass players took a picture of the hidden cellists sitting next to Ma.

Junichi Hirokami is the music director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. He was phenomenal the entire evening. He was so in the zone and it was apparent that he was so connected with the musicians and feeding off of them. He is a very small man. During the “Cello Quintet” I think he was half lying down on his podium and just taking in the entire experience.

Yo-Yo Ma. Where to begin? First of all, his musical gifts aside, Ma is every bit the gentleman and professional that I thought he was. He is so humble and considerate. He is the type of person I would hold up on a pedestal to my son or something and say “this is goodness” when it comes to character and social mannerisms. The man willfully sat in the back cello row just so the attention would be on the overall performance of “Bolero” and not him.

During the Haydn piece, Ma had some issues with his bow hair. We were sitting about 40 feet away. Of course, I was watching his every move and somewhere in the beginning, he hit his frog while bowing on the G string. I heard it make contact and within a few seconds a strand of hair was flying. Of course, Ma saw it and during a few measures where he did not play – he calmly pulled off the broken hair strands from both ends of the bow. This happened at least four more times during the Haydn concerto. Talk about staying cool under pressure.

Another Ma observation was how animated he was playing. There were some times where he physically was off his seat while playing. It was intense. Ma and the Concertmaster Charles Wetherbee were feeding off of each other, which just added to the energy of the whole performance.

Finally, it is appropriate to mention the drum player for “Bolero”. This guy played a beat the entire piece – like for 10 minutes. He did get some special attention when it was over and he enjoyed the moment – someone from the orchestra even gave him a bouquet at the end.

So, that is about it. It was money well spent, time well spent, and another deposit in the inspiration bucket to keep on learning and enjoying the cello.