Yo-Yo Ma on the joys of opening the Hong Kong Philharmonic’s new season

Those attending cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s performance of Antonin Dvorak’s Silent Woods should prepare to be transported somewhere arboreal.

“It’s a case of ‘once upon a time’. You try to take the audience to that place – you want them to imagine that they are there,” says Ma. “You want to be there yourself, you want to be absolutely present in the act of recreating the narrative. Dvorak’s work is atmospheric, and in that atmosphere lies a true potential for magic.”

The acclaimed cellist will perform Silent Woods, which was composed in 1883 and transcribed for cello and orchestra in 1893, with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra on September 9 and 10 at the Cultural Centre Concert Hall to launch its new season.

Also on the programme are Georges Bizet’s 1855 Symphony in C and Zhao Lin’s Duo, a concerto for cello and sheng that Ma will perform with Wu Tong. The HK Phil will be under the baton of Yu Long, principal guest conductor.

Silent Woods began life as the fifth part of a piano cycle called From the Bohemian Forest. It was written to express the feeling of being in Sumava, a mountain range in South Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic), which Dvorak, a Czech, enjoyed visiting with friends.

“Dvorak loved nature,” says 60-year-old Ma. “Forests have a deep meaning for Central Europeans. They are not only places of natural beauty, they are mysterious – fairy tales are born there. Forests are magical places which inspire music and poetry; they are places where humans have adventures and find themselves, too.”