MOZART Y MAMBO


This exciting, unique and, I admit, somewhat crazy project combines much-loved solo pieces for French horn by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with traditional Cuban music.

There is a statue of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Havana. On my first visit to Cuba in 2017, I was told by one of the local musicians: “Mozart would have been been a good Cuban”. I was intrigued by this comment and thus began the inspiration for this life-changing project which spanned four years. The first album was recorded in Havana, Cuba in January, 2020 and released on July 10th, 2020. Two more albums followed: `Cuban Dances´ in September 2022 and La Bella Cubana in September 2023, all three released by Alpha Classics.

MOZART y MAMBO BY SARAH WILLIS

At the time of my first visit to Cuba, I had already been dancing salsa for many years so I knew and loved Cuban popular music. Salsa, son, mambo, bolero – these are my idea of musical heaven. But the Cuban classical scene was completely unknown to me. I had been asked to give a French horn masterclass on my first trip there but had no idea what to expect – how many horn players could there be in Cuba? I was blown away by how many turned up to class, how well they played and how full of music they all were. I felt an immediate connection with my new Cuban musician friends and through them, I started to discover the classical music culture of Cuba. Mozart’s statue in Old Havana began to make complete sense. I decided then and there to do what I could to raise awareness for the wonderful classical music-making going on in Cuba.

Thus the “Mozart y Mambo” project was born. This exciting, unique and, I admit, somewhat crazy project combines much-loved solo pieces for French horn by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with traditional Cuban music. It went on to include the first Cuban horn concerto “Cuban Dances” and on the third album, La Bella Cubana, we are joined by three of my colleagues from the Berlin Philharmonic. These are perhaps not the most obvious pairing but to all those who ask me, why record Mozart in Cuba, I can only say – once you hear it, you will know why. The energy and passion of these musicians is so inspiring and I hope you will be able to hear the special atmosphere we created during the recordings.

I am happy and proud to have worked on these three albums with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra, a chamber orchestra made up of young and talented Cuban musicians, their Cuban conductor, my musical soulmate José Antonio Méndez Padrón (Pepe), and also well-known musicians from the Cuban popular music scene who make up the Sarahbanda. It has been the project of my life and I could not have wished for a more inspiring and hard working team of musicians with whom to realise this project. They have become mi familia Cubana and where there is love, there is great music. Listen to all three albums and hear for yourself – !Disfrutar!

Berlin, 2023

On June 27th 2020, Deutsche Welle TV broadcast the documentary film Mozart y Mambo-A Cuban Journey with Sarah Willis – directed by Magdalena Zieba-Schwind and produced by 3B Produktion. It is a wonderful film and I promise that these extra videos will make you smile too!

Photos from Mozart y Mambo January 2020 – by Monika Rittershaus