today i listened to a cd from kyung cha wung ( her name was osmething like that).
she played the scottish fantasy for violin and orchestra by max bruch. then i listened to vanessaa version. after that i was surprised, the way kyung did it was more emotional than vanessa.
i did the same with the four seasons and kennedys version.
both of them (k. and k. ) had something diffrent, where you can feel and discover the pieces better as you can do it by listening to v. recordings.
what do you think about her play-style ?
p.s. this isn't something against vanessa, only a question.
As a violinist myself, i can say that Vanessas Scottish Fantasy was emotional...of her at her age when she recorded it. However (which is very understandble, and expected) her musicality lacked the maturity.
phoenix, the violinist that you refer to is Kyung Wha Chung. She is very good indeed. I never heard her Scottish Fantasy yet.
In my opinion Vanessa-Mae did a very good job with her interpretation of the Scottish Fantasy. Se has a tremendous saying power in her play which is full of emotions. It is by far the best version I ever heard of this piece.
I certainly do not agree with Kevin that it lacks musical maturity.
Vanessa-Mae's early recordings of the Beethoven and Tchaikovsky violin concertos are technically very good, but clearly show that she was very young at that time. These recordings are interesting because it is Vanessa-Mae, but also because they show her enormous potential. It is clear that she was musically inmature at that time, espacially in the Tchaikovsky concerto. The Beethoven concerto is a very accetable interpretation.
I hope that she will record these piece again one day. That would be interesting.
The appreciation of one version over the one of another artist largely depends on the preference of the listener and is very personal. There are no real objective criteria.
I often find Vanessa-Mae's interpretations the best. Not because she is technically so much better than anyone else, but simply because it is so always so recognisable Vanessa-Mae. Her sound is unique. That is why Vanessa-Mae is the best violinist of our days. Of course, she is the best in my opinion!!
maybe you're right rijko with your answer that every listener has other preferences. i didn't saw it from this point.
but for me the record of kyung is the better because there are some things which are faster and maybe even wilder.
the cd is from the "legendary performances" by the label decca.
at jason, i'm very sorry but i can't give you the version in mp3 format because my computer doesn't have the right programmes for this.
Vanessa-Mae, The Neoclassic Violin Wizard