Vanessa-Mae: The Classical Collection - Part 1

What makes this recording even more spectacular is the age of the recording, the CD case declares: "First General Release of her Brilliant Early Recordings." When I first listened to the CD I had not read this, and yet I still accepted her vioin-playing as exceptional (myself being a vioin player, and understanding when violin playing is completed succesfully. Vanessa-Mae must have been around ten when she recorded this album. Her personality shines through, especially on CD3: The Virtuoso Album. She bends the music to great effect, slowing down, speeding up, pausing and using dynamics to great effect. She CD shows her now-famous ecclectic mix: CD3 containing music inspired by a vast array of different styles of music, including cinema, popular culture and folk. It's easy to laugh at the inclusion of pieces such as "The Greates Love of All" by Whitny Housten, and "The Pink Panther Theme." Yet the inclusion of tracks chosen by such a young player shows an innocence in the recording, but this is contradicted by her amazingly emotional music; showing her as more emotionally developed than your average 10 or 11 year old! Although the album is amazing sometimes it is evident that as a player the young Vanessa-Mae was trying to stick too rigidly tothe rules of romantic playing. Although always used well, in certain pieces, such as the "Pink Panther" she over-bends the music, however it is still palyed exceptionally well. The pieces have obviously been chosen with passion, soetimes for their beauty and sometimes for their complexity (Tchaikovsky's Russian Dance form Swan Lake!...WOW). An almost perfect recording, of course with her modern recording her playing has developed a lot. But still a CD well worth getting. Also it will be wanted by all the dedicated Vanessa-Mae fans, desperate to hear her early recordings.