Cosmopoly

Andreas Vollenweider | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 21, 2000)
• Original Release Date: March 21, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00004S51W
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #249,112 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Morning Poem

2. Stella

3. Elle Chelle

4. Vals del Sur

5. Hush, My Heart Be Still...

6. Petit Smile

7. Under One Moon

8. Ancient Pulse

9. Peachtree Valley

10. Bright Moon Still Shining...

11. At the Forest Fountain

12. Your Silver Keys

13. Long Road to You

14. Capriccio

15. Will-O'-The-Wisp (Ignus Fatuus)

16. Cor Do Amor

17. The Fishbirdtree--Little Snap

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider has always fallen just shy of brilliance. An underrated harpist, he rarely lets his flights of string fancy loose on his albums. And as a conceptualist, he usually paints himself into exotic, Gaudi-esque towers, without an exit. Cosmopoly provides that exit, but Vollenweider rarely takes it. On this album of collaborations, a jam with jazz piano legend Abdullah Ibrahim is as tentative as a first date, and Vollenweider is swamped in the mournful bath of Armenian doudouk master Djivan Gasparyan. The harpist follows Bobby McFerrin's lead in a dance of vocal pyrotechnics and his jams with trombonist Ray Anderson result in the most superficial hipster clichés. Carly Simon's rendering of a section of James Joyce's "Finnegan's Wake" is strictly an arty star-turn for the singer, a longtime fan of Vollenweider's.

Vollenweider fares better with his own band on the riveting melody of "Stella." Here, as well as in his writing for the Solis String Quartet and on a languidly dolorous duet with Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento, Vollenweider reveals the tuneful melodicism that flows out of his fingers like water from a spring. --John Diliberto

Product Description

2005 Re-issue of 1999 album with fully remixed and remastered in 24BIT Hi-Definition Audio, with bonus audio and video content . Special guests include Carly Simon, pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, singer and poet Milton Nascimento, Bobby McFerrin, duduk player --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Art Of Experimentation, April 12, 2000

By 

"kenaneu" (San Bruno, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cosmopoly (Audio CD)

I am an avid Andreas Vollenweider fan, and started listening to his music at a very early age. Many other reviews of Cosmopoly have declared it "unlike the old Andreas" or "lacking in direction." On the contrary, I feel this album takes quite a definite direction. Andreas is appreciated as a musician and a pioneer by many people, and likewise I think Andreas himself appreciates many other musicians and their work... Which is perhaps why he would dedicate an entire album to the experimentation we hear on Cosmopoly. Perhaps Andreas wondered what would happen if he could sit simply sit down with some of his favorite musicians from around the globe and see what kind of magic would be created by their interaction. And that's exactly what Cosmopoly is - the musical magic of artistic interaction. It is an amazing alchemy of talent and emotion from all corners of the world. From light hearted melodies such as "Stella" to the beautiful lament of "Hush, My Heart Be Still," Cosmopoly is an amazing album. Yes, some songs are more appealing than others. Yes, the album is very different from many of Andreas' earlier "musical journeys," but the heart, enthusiasm, and genius of Andreas Vollenweider can be found somewhere in each track. So don't be afraid to experiment... I admire Andreas for his fearlessly open minded music. To not own this album would be a shame.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not one of his best, but still brilliant..., April 19, 2000

By 

Adrian (Ljubljana, Slovenia, Europe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cosmopoly (Audio CD)

I've been Andreas fan since his first steps into the world of music, which includes also his peaks of creation in albums like "Eolian Minstrel", "Kryptos" and "Down to the moon". Now, he gave us "Cosmopoly", a sort of walk around the globe album, which is a slightly different matter. I'd agree with other reviewers that something's missing here, and this is mainly because of the style we got used to listening to his last two albums, perfectly rounded, produced and remarkable in their motives and pictures. "Cosmopoly" yet suffers from lack of continuity, meaning that I don't seem to find the main idea within it - tracks don't flow one into another and there are few styles which just don't match together (this is, however, not the trouble with its predecessors). Then, I definitely miss more vocals - Andreas has already shown us, how outstanding his music can be when accompanied by female voices, so the track "Your silver key" here, sung by Carly Simon, is one of the strongest parts of the album, yet it leaves you wanting more because of its length. But, in general, "Cosmopoly" is a perfect album for these spring days... like all of his records, "Cosmopoly" is inspired by nature, too - just take a look at CD's inner-sleeves with great photos. There is a forest-song ("At the forest fountain") like there were "Forest folks" on "Kryptos", "Years in the forest" on "Eolian Minstrel" etc. Tracks like "Stella", "Capriccio" by Bobby McFerrin and "Cor do Amor" by Milton Nascimento offer Andreas's characteristical harp movements, while "Vals del sur" and "Long road to you" share the brilliance of his harp and Italian string quartet, which again proves the ability of Vollenweider to colaborate with other musicians and therefore make wonderful pieces which shape his every album. His music is always escorting me on my walks through the woods, around the lake and down the river... A weak point: some tracks like "Will-o'-the-wisp (Ignus fatuus)" are too long and average... leaving you with an impression they're there just to fulfill the space.

If you're about to take a walk into Andreas's world of music, I'd highly recommend his "Kryptos", "Eolian Minstrel" or "Down to the moon" album instead of this one as it doesn't feature Andreas in full picture, but consider to purchase it if you're more into his works.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cosmopoly: A departure for the Vollenweider of yesteryear, April 4, 2002

By 

"uwallanon" (Renton, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cosmopoly (Audio CD)

I must say that I found many of the selections on Cosmopoly to be rather abstract, and consequentially, not as enjoyable and relaxing as previous CD's. Ignus Fatuus, for example, was clearly a spontaneous musical writing, that, while humorous at first, nevertheless, failed to satisfy my conservative musical tastes.

The most noteworthy, and enjoyable pieces on this CD would have to be Stella and Cor Do Amor. I would say that these 2 selections would be worth paying 15 dollars for, but it would be nice to have more than 2 songs to listen to on this CD. Currenttly, I have to set my CD player to repeat track 2 repeatedly so I can listen to Stella continuously and jam to it with my sax or clarinet. Boy, I wish I could do that with other songs on this CD!

If you're a AV fan, this one is definitely worth purchasing, though. Just be prepared for something "different".

I gave this CD,as a whole, a 4, though individually, I would say that Stella and Cor Do Amor are 5's.