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July 13, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble

download (2)The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble

Director: Morgan Neville

The Orchard/Madman

Morgan Neville’s work on 20 Feet From Stardom is proof he’s good at the big story around music – and here we have a different kind of “big story” – where 20 Feet was about the forgotten people, the people working in behind, as part of the performance – The Music of Strangers is about the forgotten influences; the key motivators that drive a star performer. In this case Yo-Yo Ma. Yes, he’s a legend, even people that don’t ordinarily listen to his music know his name and his worth – then there are the fans that come to him through his collaborations as part of/with The Silk Road Ensemble. But what is it about that music and that ensemble that works?

Here through vignettes of performance – colourful and beautifully captured – and through interviews with Yo-Ya Ma and all he holds near and dear we get a portrait of the man and his motivations and his musical drives. 81a6NrWAfSL._RI_SX200_

The performances are stunning and there’s so much here in terms of looking at music transcending meaning or translation; language barriers are broken down, cultural barriers are understood, respected and – if necessary – bypassed. It’s all here – if you’re looking for an inspirational tale around how a musical genius can reinvent themselves in order to find meaning in place of just technique then this film is for you; if you’re after a story around the power of music and its own transcendent capabilities – its powers – then this is for you.

That means this is a movie for everyone – we’ve waited a while for the official DVD download (1)release but here it is, with bonus scenes/interviews in tow.

It’s a must-watch, a must-have even for fans of music; for people enamoured with culture, with the arts, with music – people in search of an understanding of the soul that drives in and of these pursuits.

Posted in Blog, Reviews and tagged with 20 Feet From Stardom, Classical, Cristina Pato, Doco, Documentary, DVD, DVD Review, Film, Kayhan Kalhor, Kinan Azmeh, Madman, Morgan Neville, Music, Music DVD, The Music of Strangers, The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma, The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble, The Orchard, The Orchard/Madman, The Silk Road Ensemble, World Music, Yo-Yo Ma, Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble. RSS 2.0 feed.
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