Customer Reviews

Classical Album

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

With this album Vanessa Mae fans and classical violin connoisseurs now have the opportunity to judge her playing on its own merits as she covers standard classical violin repertoire rather than pop tunes or jazzed up versions of classical pieces. What we see is that Mae does indeed possess a considerable amount of technical ability and talent, even if her musicianship and tone are somewhat lacking. Mae excels with her Bach interpretations (Preludio and Loure were my favorites) where her ability to navigate the complexities of the cross string work and bowing challenges is displayed, but falls somewhat short in her efforts with Beethoven, Bruch, and Brahms where there is more demand for expression and musical maturity.

There is a tendency in the world of classical music to dismiss artists who dabble in the world of pop music as shallow or phony. Often you see people malign every living violinist as unworthy heirs of the legacies of Heifetz, Oistrach, and Kreisler. These critics, of course, would rip into Vanessa Mae like a dog with a freshly grilled t-bone steak. The fact is, her playing isn't as good as die hard Mae fans would have you believe, nor is it as bad as the purists claim. This album isn't an attempt to gain credibility and widespread acceptance in the classical community, in my opinion, but rather an effort to introduce her loyal fans to the works of these great classical composers whom she apparently loves and admires. One thing she has proven is that an artist can succeed playing both pop and classical in their repertoire if they give a quality presentation of each in an entertaining fashion. This album is a part of that ongoing effort on Mae's part, and deserves to be judged as such and nothing more.

I'm a fan of violin music, and I love baroque classical, but I'm only just learning about the talented musicians who record these timeless works today. So I cannot compare Vanessa-Mae's technical skills to those of any other musician.

But I can say this -- this CD is fabulous thinking music, and is my favorite to play softly while I'm at work. The music is beautiful, uplifting, and calming, but with an undercurrent of energy that keeps me refreshed and invigorated for long hours in front of a computer. I can only guess that this energy comes from Vanessa-Mae's interpretation of the music. The variation of music on the CD builds in complexity -- from solo violin to violin/piano to violin with orchestra -- which builds the CD to a fabulous climax: Vanessa-Mae's enchanting, haunting, utterly inspiring arrangement of "I'm A-Doun For Lack O' Johnnie," which mixes the piece's Scottish roots with African rhythms, ethereal vocals, and -- of course -- Vanessa-Mae's heavenly violin.

I now own two more Vanessa-Mae albums: *China Girl* and *The Violin Player.* China Girl again showcases Vanessa-Mae's fabulous violin-playing in music with distinctive Chinese flavor, as a tribute to her late grandfather and her Chinese heritage. It's beautiful but hasn't become as much of a favorite as *The Classical Album.* The Violin Player was Vanessa-Mae's first foray into pop violin, and it's groundbreaking in that respect -- very interesting and fun if you like pop and jazz.

But this album is still my favorite. It's comforting like an old friend who always delivers the insightful, inspiring advice I need to hear.

I respect Vanessa-Mae as an artist who has attracted public interest to the versatility of the violin in multiple genres. However, for a classically trained violinist, she seems to have forgotten her roots. While she demonstrates nearly flawless technique, that's pretty much all there is. Brief glimpses of musicality are its only saving grace. The Bach, especially, is excrutiatingly shallow. There's just not much to it. It is very immature for her supposed musicality. If you're looking for good unaccompanied Bach, try Heifitz-- a phenomenal standard --or even Hilary Hahn (her Bach is strikingly intuitive, despite her youth).
Bottom line: She sounds bored, which makes it boring. If you're a hardcore V-M enthusiast, stick with the original, fiery, vamped-up Vanessa-Mae.

Vanessa-Mae is a musical genius. Not only can she play difficult, beautiful music, she can compose as well. The solo violin pieces by Bach are haunting and the "Romance No. 2" by Beethoven is mesmirizing. Vanessa-Mae's own arrangement of "I'm a doun for lack o' Johnnie" has been released on her new album "Storm" also. It is a modern retelling of the poem and the Scottish folk music. I love Vanessa-Mae's music and recommend her classic recordings as well as her pop-rock recordings. If you like the Classical Album 1, get the Classical Album 2: China Girl.

While these are not horrible performances, they are exceedingly shallow. Vanessa-Mae clearly has no understanding of how one is supposed to build and shape a piece of music. This is particularly apparent with the Bach Partita, where one cannot rely on spiffy orchestration to save one's [...] --- it's just the violinist and the music, and it's up to the performer alone to make the music speak to the audience.

In this performer's hands, the music simply drifts along without direction or focus. Clearly there is no musical maturity here. For those apologists who would say, "but she was only 17 when she recorded it," I would reply that she should do her musical growing up before stepping into a recording studio. Besides, I thought she was supposed to be a prodigy. This doesn't sound prodigious, only lackluster.

Serious classical music fans will no doubt be disappointed with the quality of playing on this CD. While Mae seems to have carved out a niche market for herself with her electronically-enhanced versions of some classical pieces, she is not a wonderful classical artist: this is made obvious with her attempt to join the mainstream classical community. While she demonstrates decent technique, there are a countless number of other musicians who play Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Bruch better than she does, with much better phrasing and tone quality. (Any senior student at Julliard or Curtis would sound better than she does.)

It would be silly to compare Mae's Brahms and Beethoven with the thoughtful, beautiful renditions that Zukerman has recorded, likewise the Bach and Bruch of Heifetz is in a completely different leagues than Mae's. If you like Mae stick to her other work, if you like Brahms, Beethoven, Bach, and Bruch, stick to bona fide classical artists.

I think Vanessa Mae plays really well, she has great technical abilities.

I was lucky to have not wasted any buck on it.Thanks for the lovely service!the sample of 1 minute aimless lousing on note leaded me to an immediate decision.

i do not mean she's bad, while any academic student could play like this. one could play down from classical to pop, and a pop star could use classical as a flavor; while now you started from below. if you go on like this, i'm just afraid that neither your pop fans nor any classical fans would stick on you. in addition, people would continuosly recall these "similarities" between you and pagnini as mentioned by advertisements, so, please, have more practices. one day, as you no longer have to struggle to play bach's partitas, hopefully you could be re-recognized as a moderate player, though i don't think that's the right way for you to go. why not go on with your commercial performances? don't get ashamed, there would be people like that, even if i'm not one of them.