William Eddins Conductor
Yo-Yo Ma Cello
Villa-Lobos “Ária (Cantilena),” from Bachianas brasileiras No. 5
Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1
Rimsky-Korsakov Sheherazade
World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma will make his return to SPAC for the first time since 2017 with a program that opens with the “Ária” from Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas brasileiras No. 5, a delightful blend of Brazilian folk tunes and Bach-inspired chamber music.
Following is Saint-Saëns’s sparkling First Cello Concerto, one of the greatest and most technically challenging cello pieces ever written, in the masterful hands of Yo-Yo Ma. The evening closes with Rimsky-Korsakov’s sweeping Sheherazade—core Russian Romantic repertoire seemingly invented to showcase the Philadelphia Sound.