UNITED KINGDOM: MORE THAN 100,00 PEOPLE GATHER TO HEAR VIOLINIST UNITED KINGDOM: VANESSA MAE LAUNCH HER NEW CLASSICAL ALBUM "CHINA GIRL"

Record ID: 336700

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: MORE THAN 100,00 PEOPLE GATHER TO HEAR VIOLINIST UNITED KINGDOM: VANESSA MAE LAUNCH HER NEW CLASSICAL ALBUM "CHINA GIRL"
  • Date: 4th February 1998
  • Summary: VANESSA-MAE SAYING: "BEING HALF CHINESE I'VE ALWAYS HAD A FASCINATION WITH THAT PART OF THE WORLD BUT I'VE NEVER LIVED THERE FOR A BIG CHUNK OF MY LIFE SO I'VE ALWAYS HAD A FOREIGN INTEREST IN THE FAR EAST AND IN CHINA. WHEN I FIRST WENT THERE I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD - TO STUDY THE VIOLIN, THAT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE FOR ME, I FOUND I HAD A CONNECTION WITH THE CHINESE PEOPLE
  • Embargoed: 19th February 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVABIEP1O6T7R5THSHS3O4B6XB91
  • Story Text: - She's vowed to do for the violin what Jimi Hendrix did for the guitar.She's wooed audiences with her fiery mix of irreverence and tradition.This time teenage violinist Vanessa-Mae stopped London's China Town crowds in their tracks as she gave a vibrant welcome to the Year of the Tiger.

    Drawing on her new album classical China Girl, the 19-year-old prodigy was unfazed by the 100,000-strong crowd who gathered - her previous outdoor concerts have held New York's Times Square and Madison Avenue in her thrall.

    A guest of London's sizeable Chinese community, Vanessa-Mae welcomed the invitation to celebrate the Chinese New Year ahead of a world tour which will take her to China.

    UK-educated with Chinese and Thai parents, Vanessa-Mae studied violin in China as a child and has already won over audiences there with a packed Shanghai concert.

    The sassy performer has inspired admiration at both ends of the musical spectrum."China Girl - The Classical Album 2", which follows her pop album "Storm", has shot to number one in the UK classical charts after its release on January 26.Her previous "Classical Album 1" conquered every classical chart in the world.

    But Vanessa-Mae sees no conflict between her two musical paths, declaring herself "a child of the nineties".

    "I naturally had a fascination with acid jazz, funk, rock and roll as well as classical.But when I make a classical album, I'm aware of taking people with me on a journey back to my past to enoy my heritage," she said.

    Less classical in tone however than her previous work, "China Girl" marries romantic passion with tradition.

    The album kicks off with the poignant "Butterfly Lovers Concerto", which she calls a "Romeo and Juliet of the East".

    The piece tells the story of young lovers who are forbidden to be together and choose to die rather than be forced apart by the heroine's disapproving parents.

    "I love it because it's a cross-cultural piece," she said."I play on a classical western violin but it's written by two Chinese composers.It's a very sad, romantic and passionate story which I think translates very well into music." Highlight of the concert was the UK premiere performance of "Happy Valley" - the 1997 Overture she wrote and performed in Hong Kong to herald its handover from Britain to China in June last year.

    Traditional dancers, lion dancers and drummers thronged through China Town, in London's Soho district as Vanessa-Mae performed.

    She begins a World Tour in March and is scheduled to begin her first tour of China with six concerts in April.

    "China Girl", on the EMI label, is dedicated to the musician's grandfather, who died when she was 15 and whom she describes as "the direct link to my oriental heritage".
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