Mozart Variations: A Windham Hill Collection

by Windham Hill Collection: Mozart

Overview

Originally released in 1999, this album consists of performances by various artists from the stable of the Windham Hill label. They were recorded in different places and are entirely different in style, but the album was apparently an original release, not a compilation of selections from other albums. If your experience with Windham Hill is restricted to the label's 1980s new age piano albums (a category Windham Hill performers now strenuously reject), you may be surprised by the variety here, although the contribution by pianist Liz Story evokes that era. You may also feel that the program is a bit of a grab bag, but the album isn't dull. Despite the presence of vocal melodies, all the music is instrumental. Some of the selections, such as the mandolin group led by bluegrass mandolinist Mike Marshall on "Eine kleine Nachtmusik," K. 525, present Mozart's music straightforwardly, whereas in the smooth jazz treatment of the Incarnatus from the Mass in C minor, K. 427, you might be hard pressed to pick it out if you didn't already know it was coming. That's one of several tracks using a small vocalise choir, an extremely odd effect. The solo guitar selections, such as the unidentified Adagio (it is the Adagio in B minor for piano, K. 540) on track 9, are of a kind familiar from many guitar recitals, while the chamber arrangement of the Symphony No. 40 in G minor opening movement, accompanied with a djembe (track 3), arranged by guitarist William Coulter, is entirely novel. Most of the music has the characteristic mellow flavor associated with Windham Hill, but the texture curveballs keep on coming, and the sheer simple originality of some of the pieces will break through to even the skeptical listener. Try not to smile at the flute-and-panpipe arrangement of "Der Vogelfaenger bin ich ja" from Die Zauberfloete (track 10). It's all an odd mixture, but one that may appeal to an audience beyond the label's existing circle of fans.~James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	02/23/2010
Label:	Valley Entertainment / Windham Hill Records
UPC:	0618322101222
Rank:	180361

Tracks

1. The Magic Flute~'So must we two forever part?'  - William Coulter  - Barbara Higbie  - Michael Manring  - Cookie Marenco  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  - Danny Seidenberg  - Daryl Silbermann
2. Four Variations on 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' (after Mozart)  - William Coulter  -  Los Angeles Guitar Quartet  - Justin Mayer  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  - John Strother  - Andrew York
3. Symphony No. 40~Theme  - William Coulter  - Todd Denman  - Lars Johannesson  - Justin Mayer  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  - Dennis Murphy  - Rick Walker
4. Menuett No. 6 (K. 355)  - Yury Bajgrowicz  - Cookie Marenco  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  - Liz Story
5. Exsultate Jubilate  - Yury Bajgrowicz  - William Coulter  - Cookie Marenco  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  - Danny Seidenberg  -  Turtle Island String Quartet
6. Mass in C minor~Et in incarnatus est  - William Coulter  - Ruth Davies  - Bruc Kapan  - Jeff Linsky  - Irina Michailova  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  - Jeff Salzman  - John Lee Sanders  - Irene Sazer  - Bruce Tambling
7. Piano Concerto No. 23~Adagio  - Charles Eller  - Lane Gibson  - Free Klassik  - Erich Kory  - Ryan Leveille  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
8. Serenade No. 13 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik'~Allegro  - William Coulter  - Mike Marshall  - Justin Mayer  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
9. Adagio (after Mozart)  - Adam Blackburn  - William Coulter  - Justin Mayer  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  - Benjamin Verdery  - Paul Verna
10. The Magic Flute~The Bird Catcher's Song (Der Vogelsanger)  - Adam Blackburn  - William Coulter  -  Flute Force Inc.  - Justin Mayer  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  - Rie Schmidt  - Paul Verna
11. Motet 'Ave Verum Corpus'  - Steve Cardenas  - Kent Clark  - William Coulter  - Neal Harris  - Christian Konopka  - Paul McCandless  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  - Richard Schonherz  - Robert Ward
12. Allegretto (after Mozart)  - Carl Cedar  - Alexandra Goodell  - Michael Manring  - Tony Mills  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
13. Sonata in F (K.332)~Andante  - William Coulter  - Kaila Flexer  - Mike Marshall  - Justin Mayer  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
14. 'Dissonant' Quartet in C (K. 465)~Adagio  - Wolfgang Loos  - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  - Michael Schiefel

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Dennis Murphy   Bass
Flute Force Inc.   Ensemble
Turtle Island String Quartet   String Quartet
Liz Story   Piano
Kaila Flexer   Violin
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet   Ensemble
Rick Walker   Djembe
Todd Denman   Uillean Pipes
Robert Ward   French Horn
Michael Schiefel   Voices
Alexandra Goodell   Bass
Daryl Silbermann   Violin
Free Klassik   Ensemble
Irina Michailova   Vocals
Paul McCandless   Keyboards,Horn (English)
Steve Cardenas   Steel String
Andrew York   Soloist
Mike Marshall   Guitar,Mandolin
Irene Sazer   Violin
Barbara Higbie   Piano
Ruth Davies   Bass
Jeff Linsky   Guitar
Michael Manring   Bass,Piano
William Coulter   Guitar
Danny Seidenberg   Viola
Lars Johannesson   Flute
Benjamin Verdery   Guitar
John Lee Sanders   Piano,Keyboards,Saxophone

Technical Credits

Liz Story   Arranger
Justin Mayer   Mixing,Recording
Richard Schoenherz   Pre-Production
Sonny Mediana   Art Direction
Andrea Franklin   A&R
Charles Eller   Mixing,Engineer
Ryan Leveille   Arranger
Todd Denman   Arranger
Neal Harris   Digital Editing
Rie Schmidt   Arranger
Paul Verna   Recording
Jerimaya Grabher   A&R
Michael Schiefel   Arranger
Bruc Kapan   Recording
Christian Konopka   Pre-Production
Daryl Silbermann   Arranger
Jeff Salzman   Engineer
Kent Clark   Recording
Yury Bajgrowicz   Mixing Assistant,Recording Assistant
Tony Mills   Recording
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart   Composer,Original Material
Paul McCandless   Mixing,Arranger
Andrew York   Composer
Mike Marshall   Arranger,Recording,Mandolin Arrangement
Lane Gibson   Engineer
Cookie Marenco   Mixing,Recording
Michael Manring   Composer
Erich Kory   Mixing,Arranger
William Coulter   Mixing,Arranger,Recording
Adam Blackburn   Recording Assistant
Bruce Tambling   Mixing,Recording
Wolfgang Loos   Mixing,Arranger,Producer,Recording
Danny Seidenberg   Mixing,Arranger
Carl Cedar   Creative Inspiration
Benjamin Verdery   Composer
John Lee Sanders   Mixing,Arranger
John Strother   Recording