
The sold-out crowd at Merrill Auditorium applauds during the Portland Symphony Orchestra’s 100th-anniversary performance, featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Photo by Sarah McCullough
Bruce, Usher, Taylor and maybe a few others gain instant recognition among music fans with just a mention of their first name. In classical music, it’s someone named Yo-Yo who has that sort of celebrity.
Cellist and worldwide music superstar Yo-Yo Ma came to Portland on Thursday night to headline a gala celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He was humble and sweet and personable and, oh yes, he plays his instrument masterfully.
A star since he was a child, the now 69-year-old Ma has been recognized for his broad reach into all forms of popular and traditional music. But, for this occasion, where a sense of place imbued the program, he chose to return to a late-Romantic work he has recorded and performed many times before.
The “Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in B minor, op. 104, B. 191” by Antonín Dvořák was reportedly begun during the composer’s sojourn in the United States but completed upon return to his native Bohemia. Indeed, as performed on Thursday, the work exuded a strong Eastern-European sort of tragic sensibility (the composer’s biography suggests that it reflects his personal state of mind at the time).

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed with the Portland Symphony Orchestra on Thursday. Photo by Austin Mann
Ma resolutely engaged with the piece, developing its themes with a virtuosic delicacy, limned with poignance, that quickly proved transfixing. His engagement with the orchestra aurally and with occasional turns to look over his shoulder at them personally made the performance especially engaging, as a rapt sellout crowd leaned in to every nuance.
PSO flute and clarinet soloists (Lisa Hennessy and Tom Parchman, respectively, principals with the orchestra) stood out under the vigorous leadership of conductor Eckart Preu from the podium. The concerto was over much too soon. But a brief solo encore, an arrangement by Jeremy Dutcher of a Mi’kmaw song, chosen by Ma, who has collaborated with Dutcher, was a treat. It helped to connect all to the place once known as Machigonne, where the PSO has flourished now for 100 years.
The evening began with a piece by Sydney Guillaume, a Haitian composer who was in attendance at Merrill for the occasion. “Lavil Okap” is a brief but full-bodied work that celebrates Afro-Caribbean as well as European musical traditions. Small to large percussion instruments figured prominently to provide a rich, almost cinematic sense of place through both dance-like and introspective passages.
“Pini di Roma (The Pines of Rome)” by Ottorino Respighi employed a backstage trumpeter, a brass sextet in the right balcony, and a recording of nightingales, in establishing a rich musical view of the ancient city and its environs. At times frantic, then somber, then majestic, the piece received enthusiastic applause from the audience that seemed not to mind a stop in the Eternal City on its way to a visit with Yo-Yo Ma and the orchestra of Maine’s Forest City.
Steve Feeney is a freelance writer who lives in Portland.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is found on our FAQs. You can modify your screen name here.
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your Press Herald account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.