Customer Reviews

The Essential Andreas Vollenweider

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This anthology spans the twenty-year recording history of Swiss harpist Andreas Wollenweider from 1981's Behind the Gardens... to 1999's Cosmopoly. [There is nothing from his 1979 debut Eine Art Suite, which is now available on The Trilogy.] His mostly instrumental music is in turns majestic, intimate, personal, tranquil and it all centers around Wollenwieder's signature sound of his electracoustic harp. I was first introduced to his music by a co-worker who played Down to the Moon for me back in 1986. I've been hooked ever since. I now own all of his albums--most on vinyl or cassette. So this anthology--whose selections were handpicked and mixed and remastered by the artist himself--was a wonderful way to get these songs on CD. If you're new to the music of Wollenweider, it makes a wonderful introduction. If like me you're looking for an inexpensive way to upgrade your collection, you also get the added bonus of "Pace Verde," which was a single-only release in 1983 and one of the standout tracks on this collection. [This track is only otherwise available on The Trilogy, which also includes his first four albums on two CDs.] This is music to feed the soul. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I have to confess that in all the years I've been listening to new instrumental music, I've avoided Andreas Vollenweider because I really don't like harp music. When I received a copy of "The Essential Andreas Vollenweider" for review, I kind of thought, "Oh great - another harp CD." Vollenweider's is such a huge and well-respected name that I decided that this would be an opportunity to educate myself. Many "best-of" and "greatest hits" albums are compiled by labels without any input from the artists, but this collection was chosen by Vollenweider himself from albums dating from 1981-1999. Several of the older tracks were remastered by Vollenweider, so this was a great chance to get to know a bit about this artist. It really didn't surprise me that quite a few of the songs were familiar from radio play, but I was surprised that many of them I never would have guessed as being played on harp. Vollenweider developed his electracoustic harp, which has quite a different sound from the standard acoustic harp. In addition to the harp, Vollenweider sings and plays wind instruments, guitars, accordion, keyboards, percussion, and "special fx". I was also surprised at how much I found myself enjoying this album! Musical influences can be heard from all over the world, and most of the music is lively, rhythmic, and infectious. I especially like "Moon Dance", "Dancing With the Lion", and Pace Verde", but the album as a whole is a wonderful sampler for those of us who are relatively new to Vollenweider's music, and is an excellent "best of" collection for his longtime fans. I will definitely be adding more of his music to my collection! The CD is multimedia-enhanced and contains the music video to "Pearls and Tears". Highly recommended!

This composer has never let me down from the very first time I heard his CD entitled, Down To The Moon. I was in a restaurant having lunch, and even though I was having a conversation with three other people, I was constantly drawn to the music playing in the backround. I asked the waiter for the name of the composer. After lunch, I ran out and purchased the CD. That was several years ago. I now have all of his works, and find that each one is as moving as the first time I listened to him. With this album, you'll get a sampling of his work, that will keep you coming back for more.

Andreas Vollenweider has created great music and this has his best songs. The only other album I own by him is "Dancing With The Lion". My dad bought the cassette a long time ago, I listen to it sometimes but not a lot. Andreas Vollenweider is the second harp player I heard, the first was Hillary Stagg and I can see a big difference in their music mostly because of the background instruments.

All of the songs on the album were good but I found "Wanja The Wanderer" a bit strange and so did my dad when he listened to it, so I don't think I'll get his album "Kryptos". Here are my favorite songs: Behind the Gardens, Flight Feet and Root Hands, Belladonna, See My Love, Moon Dance, Dancing With The Lion, Night Fire Dance and Cor Do Amor. The only reason I gave the album 4 stars was because some songs sounded a bit strange.

The bonus material on this CD includes: songs with new mixes, mulltimedia cd including the music video of pearls and tears and a new song "Pace Verde"

If you don't own any albums by Andreas Vollenweider and are thinking of buying one I would recommend this one the most but if you already have this one I would recommend "Down To The Moon".

I hope you enjoy his music!

Made in CAN in 2000, Serial# SK-89507, Playing Time 72:47

First of all, let me just say that, contrarily to what's stated on the cover artwork, there is NO multimedia section on my copy of this disc.

Still, this 12th album by AV covers material from all his albums, except his first (which, contrarily to popular belief, only half of which is on "The Trilogy" set), "Eolian Minstrel" and "Live".

The songs presented here have been remastered and remixed by AV and long-time percussionist collaborator Pedro Haldemann, and tend to focus on his more joyful genre. His early albums have also been remastered a few years ago, but the selections here contain some rich textures: his earlier works are a lot more new-age and "natural" than his latest offerings. "Stella" is the only track from "Cosmopoly", an otherwise bland and generally "ethnic" album: I would even suggest you listen to the sound clip from that album, and you'll be amazed to see what sounds can come out of his harp: much closer to classical guitar than harp.

An excellent starting point for the novice; if you enjoy, start gathering the albums chronologically, as you'll notice a somewhat significant departure from "Book Of Roses" forward.

Andreas Vollenwider creates magical spells consisting of sounds, snowfall, tones, reliefs, whispers, breezes, winds, waves and sunshine.

Vollenweider is a master of the understated new-age stream of electronic composer and artist. With The Essential collection, in effect, the listener is given direct access to the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of a person who may otherwise be inaccessible.

Regards,

martyn_jones@iniciativas.com

I have most of Vollenweider's CDs already, but was willing to purchase this one because I was interested in the remixed versions. In my opinion these "new" versions have not changed enough to justify the price of the CD. However, if you intend to purchase only one Vollenweider disc, this would be a good one. My recommendation: purchase a used disc.