UK: VIOLIN VIRTUOSO VANESSA MAE RELEASES A NEW ALBUM "STORM" ON WHICH SHE ALSO SINGS

Record ID: 387218

  • Title: UK: VIOLIN VIRTUOSO VANESSA MAE RELEASES A NEW ALBUM "STORM" ON WHICH SHE ALSO SINGS
  • Date: 30th September 1997
  • Summary: (RTV - ACCESS ALL) (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) VANESSA MAE SAYING, "PEOPLE ASK ME 'DO YOU DEVOTE SIX MONTHS OF THE YEAR TO CLASSICAL AND SIX MONTHS TO POP?' AND NOW I DON'T HAVE THAT SORT OF STRUCTURE IN MY YEAR. I JUST ACCORDING TO WHAT TAKES MY FANCY REALLY, ACCORDING TO MY MOOD. ONE DAY I WAKE UP IN A POP MOOD. ONE DAY I WAKE UP IN A MORE CLASSICAL MOOD. IT'S TRUE WHEN I'M RECORDING CLASSICAL, I APPROACH IT QUITE DIFFERENTLY. I HAVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF RESPECT FOR BOTH BUT IF I'M PLAYING A CLASSICAL NUMBER IN "CHINA GIRL", IT'S QUITE DIFFERENT BECAUSE TWO OF THEM WERE ARRANGEMENTS THAT I DID MYSELF. BUT GENERALLY IN CLASSICAL MUSIC I APPROACH IT WITH A SORT OF RESPECT AND RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS THE COMPOSER BECAUSE HERE WAS SOMEBODY WHO CREATED THIS PIECE, THIS tAPESTRY OF MUSIC THAT EXISTED A HUNDRED YEARS AGO, KIND OF LIKE THE MONA LISA AND I'M JUST AN INTERPRETER, I'M A MEDIUM THROUGH WHICH THE CURRENT GENERATION OF AUDIENCE CAN REALLY ENJOY THE WORK."
  • Embargoed: 15th October 1997 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVABNC0JN4UGEWVVAXI9UL6GLSUL
  • Story Text: Violinist Vanessa Mae continues to straddle the worlds of pop and classical music with her new album "Storm".

    The musical whirlwind who made violin playing sexy with her 1995 pop release "The Violin Player", recorded "Storm" earlier this year.

    At the same time, Vanessa stayed true to her first love by making her latest classical album, "The Classical Album 2 - China Girl".

    For a musician who was already a veteran of classical concerts and recordings at 13, Vanessa says her newest work is a culmination of travelling to more than 30 countries in the last two years and being exposed to a myriad of musical influences.

    The 14 tracks on "Storm" range, in her own words, from sublime on "A Poet's Quest" to sultry earthiness on "Embrace Moi" and ultimate cool on "Retro" Vanessa also turns disco diva with a reworking of the Donna Summer hit "I Feel Love", on which she also sings.

    The musician describes "Storm" as more daring than her first foray into pop by discovering even more "eclectic" musical tastes.

    Admitting that it would have been "safer" to play just classical music, Vanessa insists she has no time for critics who accuse her of abandoning her classic training.

    Although she approaches the musical styles differently, Vanessa says she gets the same satisfication from classical and pop music.

    "Being steeped in the tradition of classical music, I'll never say goodbye to it. It's part of me, it's my history," Vanessa said.

    "But at the same time, growing up as a child of the nineties, I can identify with pop music as well ... both give me an enormous amount of pleasure." Vanessa Mae was born in Singapore 18 years ago. She moved to Britain aged four where she started her early music education on the piano and violin.

    She made her concert debut with an orchestra in London aged 10.

    By the time she was 12, she had toured internationally as a concerto soloist and recitalist. She had also released two classical recordings and embarked on her third and was to set a world record establishing her as the youngest-ever artist to record the Tchaikovsky and Beethoven Violin Concertos.

    Critical acclaim followed, leading to descriptions of Vanessa as a "child prodigy" and "musical phenomenon".

    In 1994, Vanessa signed an unprecedented deal with record giant EMI where she was contracted to record both pop and classical works.

    In 1995, aged 15, she released "The Violin Player", together with her first pop single, "Toccata and Fugue".

    The single stayed in the UK charts for more than two months, the album went multi-platinum and spun 3 hit singles.

    It was her first "techno-acoustic pop" album -- using a combination of traditional acoustic violin and modernelectric violin.

    Vanessa then embarked on her "Red Hot World Tour" to promote the album which took her to 33 countries.

    Fulfilling her stated ambition to maintain a dual career, Vanessa returned to her classical roots in 1996, releasing "The Classical Album 1". That work became the fastest selling classical album ever for a solo artist, selling half a million copies in the first two weeks of release.

    Continuing the double act, Vanessa started work on "Storm", recording her next classical album "China Girl" at the same time.

    With two new records under her belt simultaneously, Vanessa concedes it would have been the "soft option" to carry on playing classical music only.

    Soft options and playing it safe do not appear to be on the Vanessa Mae agenda.

    "Storm" is released at the end of October.
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