Most versions of the Cello Concerto are coupled with other orchestral pieces: Mischa Maisky's with a rather mannered account of the Second Symphony from Bernstein (DG), Lynn Harrell's with the Saint-Saens A minor Concerto (Decca), and Frederic Lodeon's desirable Erato/RCA account with the Konsertstuck for four horns and the Introduction and Allegro. Yo-Yo Ma chooses an even more logical course and offers the rest of Schumann's music for cello and piano. Doubtless readers' choice of recording will be primarily influenced by the needs of their collection.
Yo-Yo Ma's playing is always distinguished by great expressive refinement and tonal sophistication: I would cheerfully rest content to hear him playing scales, arpeggios and any other exercises you might care to name! His account of the Concerto is keenly affectionate and Sir Colin Davis gives him the most sympathetic support. At times I think he carries tonal sophistication to excess. Just as some people drop their voices to near inaudibility when they want to command special attention or impart some intimate secret, Yo-Yo Ma evinces a similar propensity for sudden sotto voce tone, and this at times borders on affectation. There is also a gradual slowing down in the first movement for which I can see little authority in the score (bars 130–162) and this loss of momentum might worry some collectors. On repeated hearing I was almost persuaded that this was in some curious way right, so eloquent are these artists in the way that Furtwangler persuades one—but the emphasis must be on almost! I am sure the expressive aims would be better served without disrupting the flow of this passage as with Lodeon and Guschlbauer. Generally speaking, both soloist and conductor are in harmony and thoroughly attuned to the sensibility of this music. The CBS sound is beautifully rounded: the balance between soloist and orchestra is just about right and the various elements in the orchestral picture blend admirably. The sound is less analytical than that Decca provide for Lynn Harrell, but it suits Schumann's well-upholstered scoring. The three pieces that complete this record are well projected and full of feeling with sensitive and well-characterized playing from Emanuel Ax. I had some reservations about the recordings these artists made of the Beethoven Op. 5 Sonatas for CBS some years ago when the pianist's exuberance of spirit and robust tone struck me as a bit overpowering. Here the two artists seem to have solved the problems of balance which these pieces pose with much greater success. I liked Ax's impulsiveness and responsiveness. There is formidable competition here: Maisky and Argerich in both the Fantasiestucke and the Funf Stucke im Volkston (Philips), which I like rather more than did Max Harrison in his first review, and the classic Rostropovich/Britten account of the Op. 102 pieces (Decca). Joan Chissell speaks of them as ''pleasing miniatures... though in the Volkston cello and piano are apt to stay too much in the same register''. There is also quite a lot of A if one were dotty enough to play all three in succession (six of the nine pieces are in A major or minor).
For those who already have the cello and piano pieces in other versions, and don't want to duplicate them, I would recommend Lodeon. His tone is not as sumptuous as Maisky's or as subtle as Ma's but his performance is thoroughly musical and natural. I would certainly prefer his greater reticence to Maisky's intensity: he emotes too heavily in the slow movement though there is no gainsaying his glorious tone. Although, as I said in my first review ''Lodeon may not have quite the aristocratic finish of a Fournier or Gendron'', his is a remarkably fine performance—and has the advantage of a transparent and expertly balanced recording. All the same, those wanting the present coupling need not hesitate and I for one would certainly want to have it.'