People in the News
A new classical Vanessa-Mae
Violin playerVanessa-Mae performing at the Hong Kong Convention and ExhibitionCenter.
By Sonia Kolesnikov,
UPI Correspondent
SINGAPORE, (UPI) -- Vanessa-Mae has successfullymade the transformation from child prodigy to adulthood, but nowafter nearly 13 years in the music business, she is ready forchanges. Having pioneered the "techno-classic" fusionsound, the world-renowned violinist is ready to make a U-turnin her career, separating her classical and pop career.
It's all about not keeping it "formulaicand repetitive," the stunning 23-year-old says.
"I know it's a bit confusing. In thepast, I've mixed classical and pop, but now I want to separatethem," she told United Press International in an interview."I'm now at a point where I'm getting experienced at thisall techno-fusion thing, and I want to break that all down anddo something that's new for me. I want to continue to challengemyself and the people I work with, and I don't want anybody toplay safe with my career."
The gifted violinist -- who confesses thatshe can sometimes go a whole month without touching her instrumentand needed little practice as a child -- is planning to startrecording a new purely classical album this winter, with a viewto releasing it next fall.
"I'm going to go romantic with Tchaikovsky,and probably other Russian composers," she says, adding thatshe still doesn't know with which orchestra she will record. ButVanessa-Mae's fans can expect her to retain her rebel streak withher own innovative interpretation of the classics. "I'vebeen spoiled as an artist, allowed to do what ever I want.
So what ever I do with classical, I don'twant to just return to the notes that where written by the composer.I want always to inject a bit of creativity into it."
"If you get accused of bastardizingthe composer, well for me I don't see that. Because the ultimatecompliment is performing that composer's music, and if you wantto inject something a bit different, as in your own cadenza oryour own arrangement, then that's what's I'm going to do,"she says, smiling.
And she will not abandon her pop career,with plans for a pop album after the release of the classicalone.
Classical music was her first love, saysVanessa-Mae, confessing a fondness for Beethoven and Bruch. TheSingapore-born virtuoso first started on a violin when she was5 years old after moving to London, where she still lives. Threeyears later, she packed her bags for the National Conservatoireof Music in Beijing for an intensive period of study, before returningto London and the Royal College of Music.
The sylphid-like artist recalls being "guideda lot" as a child.
"At the end of the day, I enjoyed thehard work, perversely enough," she says. "I enjoyedthe fact that I was sacrificing playtime, for something that wasultimately giving me a little pleasure. So I knew there was abit of pain."
She feels she may have missed "time"as a child, leaving behind a "carefree life," but quicklyadds, "I took a different route from other people. It wasa little bit frustrating that I couldn't just be a child. ButI made the decision."
Between the ages of 11 and 13, she recordedthree classical albums, but she became a world-famous artist withher debut pop album in 1995, creating a new type of fusion, crossoverbetween classical and pop.
At that time, her two idols were pop superstarMichael Jackson and Russian classical violinist Jascha Heifitz.
"With that kind of personality, mymanagement thought it would be possible to fuse those things intoa new sounds.
And I was up for it," she says. "Whenyou're young, you're not afraid of anything. I was looking forwardto get hold of an electronic violin and see what I could do withit. The idea was sold to the record company, and they were verysupportive of the new idea."
Since then, many other artists have followedin her footsteps.