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an
extraordinarily shy and gentle smile.
Andreas Vollenweider can't
stand being classified under the "New Age" label, which is now
so vast as to include all sorts of different, and sometimes opposite,
things: "it's much more appropriate to 'classify' me under what I
call Contemporary Cosmopolitic Instrumental Music", he says after
pondering his words.
Andreas Vollenweider has
been locked away for a couple of days in the press room at Sony Music,
right at the centre of Milan, to answer the hundreds of questions that
music critics ask him about his new album "Cosmopoly", just
released in all corners of Europe: but in spite of this he's not tired or
bored.
On the contrary, he just
irradiates joy and vigour: "because", he says, "there is
always something important to learn from each interview, even the most
apparently "stupid" and "useless" ones. I listen to
every question, I memorize all the smallest details, and then I try to
answer as best I can. I think all this will be useful to my future
work".
Interview
So it's just like that Tibetan wiseman
used to say centuries ago: "the more stupid the questions, the more
intelligent the answers"...
"That's
a nice saying! Thank you for telling me about it! It perfectly suits me, it
seems right in tune with the way I have always dealt with things: give the
best of me in every situation, and, at the same time, stay perfectly free to
follow my intuitions, my deepest nature...".
A nature that must be very flexible and
multifaceted, considering the absymal difference between this
"Cosmpoly" and your previous work: "Kryptos", released
in 1997...
"You're
perfectly right. But, you see, the funny thing in this whole story is that
"Kryptos" was conceived as a solo album, and only along the way it
turned into that "symphonic adventure" highlighted by the
subtitle. I could say that musical materials, that I had initially thought
of for harp only, gradually grew on me, and became bigger and bigger, epic
and opulent. But, in the end, it's precisely this unimaginable redundancy
that made me realize that I was now ready for much smaller, intimate,
private and emotional things. In other words, the genesis of
"Cosmopoly" took shape an instant after finishing
"Kryptos". Funny, isn't it?".
Maybe it is. And in any case it's
significant of the fact that you manage to have a very methodic and intense
dialogue with yourself...
"It's
absolutely true. So much that I use to say that my worst enemy... is myself,
and that the best thing I can do .... is to protect myself from the ambushes
that my intelligence always sets up for me! I'm not joking, I can assure
you! I'm such a perfectionist that more than once I had the sudden impulse
of throwing to the dogs everything I had been building! And also for this
reason "Cosmopoly" seems to me a fundamental stage of my
existance. Because, here, I have worked in close contact with a lot of
friends: Düde Dürst, Hugo Faas, Carly Simon, Darryll Pitt. And, thanks to
them, I have finally understood what it means to work with joy and in
perfect tuning with each other. In a group, rather than always by
myself!".
And
indeed the album is a long sequel of rather short themes, often organized in
form of duets: with Djivan
Gasparyan, Bobby McFerrin, Carly Simon,
Abdullah Ibrahim, Milton Nascimento, Carlos Nuñez, Xiaojing Wang and many
others. A real novelty, for you.
"Of
course, and also a great challenge with myself. Because in a two-minute
theme, maybe organized for harp and voice only, there's no room for
embroideries and trimmings! It's a matter of putting together, with perfect
harmony, plot and subject, without recurring to other embellishments. And
there you realize if you really have faith in what you're doing!".
And
you did have faith, undoubdtedly, at least from what we hear on the album.
But now, please, could you sketch a little portrait of your most famous
guests: starting from the great Djivan
Gasparyan...
"Oh, the
"old" Djivan: what an extraordinary musician! I had met him in
person many years ago, at the times of his first "official"
recording. He played "duduk" (the small Armenian flute made in
cherry-wood briar) with an intensity that was spasmodic to say the least,
and he managed to draw from it emotions at the pure state, sounds that are
very near to the human voice: a total ecstasy, indeed! At the end of the
concert I went to meet him in person, and there I discovered that the man
was, if possible, even greater and more charming than the musician. A real
miracle in flesh and bones!".
Let's continue with Bobby McFerrin...
"Another
fantastic guy, believe me! He has a tremendous sense of humour, an
unimaginable bonhomie, an invaluable existential lightness. And this depends
on the fact that Bobby is one of the few men I know who have been able to
preserve the child in them. And, therefore, also an absolutely child-like
joy of life".
On with another one: the African pianist
Abdullah Ibrahim, once known as Dollar Brand...
"I've
been adoring him since I've been listening to music: that is, for at least
forty years! I love him because he has an absolutely personal pianistic
style, with an "ostinato" of the left hand which is very African
and, why not, very Swiss at the same time. This style of his, so archaically
percussive, perfectly matches my way of playing harp: which owes a lot to
him, I have no trouble admitting that. And in fact playing with him has been
something magical and moving at the same time. We rehearsed for more than
one hour, and it was like we'd known each other all our lives!".
Last but not least, Carly Simon.
"Carly
is one of my best friends. I've been knowing her for twenty years, and for
twenty years I've always been thanking her for all she's always done for me.
She opened the way for me to American theatres when I was a nobody, when it
took a great courage to believe in what I was doing. Such a person you only
meet once in your life, believe me!".
And finally, Mr Vollenweider, a couple of
words about your plans from now to the end of the year.
A bit of
rest, before facing the trip to the US: in the first days of the year 2000.
Where, once more, I will be able to count on the help of my dear friend
Carly".
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