San Francisco Classical Voice : Angelique Kidjo and Yo-Yo Ma Make a West African Dance Party with "Sarabande Africaine" →
Cal Performances couldn’t have engineered a better season kickoff than a joyous collaboration between Beninese superstar singer Angélique Kidjo and cello maestro Yo-Yo Ma. "Sarabande Africaine" explores a whole new set of shapes. On “Lonlon,” Kidjo delivered her original lyrics for Maurice Ravel’s Bolero with the requisite dynamic calibration. She was at her Parisian best on “La Foule,” which set the chanson standard indelibly linked to Piaf to a galloping vals Peruano groove. And her Yoruban lyric for a theme from Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 5, recited by Ma in English beforehand, transformed the melody into a supplication for the safety of girls in conflict zones.
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