Here's Tommy Newman's review of one of Vanessa-Mae's concerts:
Hampton Court Music Festival 1997
(June 18, 1997)
by Tommy Newman <ult-vm@dial.pipex.com>
What a day! It started off with me finding out that my art exam piece is one of five being displayed in the school corridor, then my Physics exam went really well, infact, it was my last GCSE exam, I've finished, at last! To make the day complete, after my exam, we left for Hampton Court in London, to see Vanessa-Mae in concert!
Having arrived early a Hampton Court, we met up with Vanessa-Mae mailing list member Alex Macfie. Together, we looked around Hampton Court, before finally sitting down in our seats, waiting for the concert to begin. At 8pm, The Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House went onto the stage, followed by the conductor, Victor Fedotov, who also conducted for Vanessa-Mae's Classical Album 1. Vanessa-Mae's mother then left back stage, and walked infront of us. Finally, Vanessa-Mae herself walked onto stage, wearing a black top, and long green skirt.
She firstly played 'Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major Op. 6' by Paganini. You are not meant to clap inbetween movements, but one time, people did, which shows just how much they were enjoying the concert!
Vanessa-Mae then spoke to us, saying she would now play 'Turandot Fantasy', by Puccini / Vanessa-Mae. Se said that the concert's sponsor was Mitsubishi, and so, as no coincidence, this piece would have a Chinese feal to it. I recognised the end of this piece as the football (soccer) World Cup song, sung by Pavarotti. That was great!
We then had a 75 minute interval, in which we walked around the other side of the palace and had our picnic, listening to the bandstand. We then returned to the court in which the concert was taking place, and it was dark by then.
Vanessa-Mae followed on the Orchestra, and played the `Scottish Fantasy Op. 46' by Max Bruch, from her Classical Album 1. This was great! I didn't know the first Concerto that she played, and I can't speak for anyone else, but personally, I don't enjoy pieces that I haven't heard before as much as those I have heard many times, and know well. Thus, in keeping with the going ons of the day, this concert was getting better all the time! As I knew the end of the `Turandot Fantasy' in the first half. Now, she played the `Scottish Fantasy', which I knew very well.
Vanessa-Mae then told the audience that in keeping with tradition her her concerts, she would now give her old violin a rest, and use her Zeta, I was hoping she'd say that! As good as she is at playing classical music, it is the pop side of her that I like! If it wasn't for Vanessa-Mae's pop music, I would never have known about her. Liking her pop music has also meant that I got to know and like her classical music too.
She told us all that she has toured 50 different countries, playing at 120 concerts in the last one and a half years. She also said she'd be playing at another 2 different countries soon. She said that she wouldn't be changing into her short mini-skirt for this part of the concert, apart from anything, she said it was too cold, and it was! She did say though, that people may see her later in the summer in her mini-skirt. A hint for a UK pop tour for a new album hopefully!
Toccata & Fugue was great, with Vanessa-Mae's pop band now joining the Orchestra. It looked like the same band that played on the Classical Tour for the pop section. Vanessa-Mae then told us that she would like to end the concert in the same way that she always does. Leaving her, the Orchestra, and of course the audience on a high, with Red Hot. She said that after starting out as a pure pop song, it had now been converted into a symphonic version, which was what we heard. Apparently receiving it's UK premiere that evening, although many of you would have heard it already on the last single as a B-side. Again, it was amazing!
The audience burst into applaud and cheering after Red Hot. Vanessa-Mae and the Orchestra all bowed, and she left the stage, only to have to return due to the applause. She ran on and off the stage quite a few times before saying, " Do you want some more?", "YES" came the reply! She told us that no encore was planned, and ran off the stage again to find her violin. Finally, she was nearly ready to play Toccata & Fugue again, after telling us she would do just that. Although the conductor didn't seem to know what was going on, so Vanessa-Mae had to inform him! She then said, "JJ at front of house, did you hear that? I'm doing Toccata & Fugue again", which proves no encore was planned! After the encore, she told us that she wanted to play for us all night, but she believed some of us had to go to bed! So, finally the great concert came to an end. Unfortunately I couldn't wait to meet Vanessa-Mae after the concert.
Toccata & Fugue and Red Hot live, what a perfect and to a great day!
Excellent review, so here's my request: If anyone has a video of this concert, whole or in part, I will pay serious money to whomever has it. If you do have it, please contact me to make arrangements.
Thanks,
Benji
Request: please read - This is a description of a vm concert
Moderator: zeta
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Xanthippe
One, it was sponsored by Mitsubishi .. there has to be footage of it somewhere.Rijko Ebens wrote:Benji, I think all of us would love to have a video of this great concert.
Do you have any reason to believe that such video exists?
Just like there was footage of Vanessa-Mae's Mitsubishi Lancer Concert in late 1996.
Benji
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Xanthippe
Rijko Ebens wrote:Benji
Ok, I'll ask Glenn or can you make it available for this forum?
I don't have a video capture card
I also found some more info about the Hampton Court Music Festival:
"The Hampton Court Festival was founded in 1993 and now enters its 12th season. International artists of high repute from the world of music, dance and more besides perform here throughout June and music lovers from around the country will be flocking to the performances."
Such a beautiful venue from the pictures I've seen, and given the wide range of music talent from the globe, I can't imagine not being recorded. I will do more research to see if perhaps the video is commercially available.
Benji
*Edit*: You can read more about the Festival by visiting http://www.hamptoncourtfestival.com
I'm currently seeing if there are any commercial media available for purchase. The pictures are just beautiful, and everyone should at least take a glance.
Edit #2*: I didn't find any information on any commercially available media for purchase, so I decided to e-mail the site webmaster to ask for more information. Here's the e-mail in it's entirety:
"Hello,
First of all, the beauty of Hampton Court cannot be justified with mere words, the pictures are absolutely spectacular!
I'm writing because I'm interested in a particular performance at the Hampton Court Festival in 1997 by a fantastic
violinist called Vanessa-Mae. I'm part of a group of dedicated fans who recently discovered that she performed at
this wonderful festival, and given the visual beauty of the landscape and the historic buildings, we'd like the opportunity
to see this one-of-a-kind performance.
Are there any commercially available tapes (NTSC, PAL or otherwise) of Vanessa-Mae's performance? Even if
by chance you don't have any, are there any affiliates that *might* have a video recording of this event?
Only one (classical) Vanessa-Mae concert has ever been available publicly, so concert footage has been incredibly
hard to come by. Any help, no matter how small it might be, would be greatly appreciated. We all thank you in
advance for giving us consideration in this matter.
Most Sincerely,
Benji Ivy (on behalf of all members at http://forum.vanessamae.org )
I will post a response, if I get one.
*Edit #3*: I probably won't be the only one who sees the irony in this, but this year's Festival will open with Nigel Kennedy performing Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. More information can be read here
Benji
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Xanthippe
I don't think that there will be a video commercially available from the festival. I don' see why the performing artists would agree to that; they probable prefere to keep video material in their own hand. Maybe parts of it were broadcasted on television once and someone might have recorded it.
Benji, I don't see any irony in Kennedy performing as openings act for this years festival.
Benji, I don't see any irony in Kennedy performing as openings act for this years festival.
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It isn't, that's the Alternative Classical Concert, which I've had for a long while.aventine wrote:I have a tape of a 1997 concert, but that was in January at Birmingham, and she opened with Beethoven. I remember you asking me about it Benji a long time back, and I finally got one of those capture card things, but I don't think this is what you're looking for...
This concert is in some ways similar to the ATC, but a few differences:
- Vanessa DID have a full orchestra (Royal Opera House)
- She played Puccini's Turandot (one of my fav. classical pieces Vanessa has ever performed)
- I'd love to see Vanessa play Paganini's Concerto No. 1
- Of course, I can never get tired of Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy. Oddly enough, Vanessa is one of only a handful of violinists who performed Scottish Fantasy. The other two that I've know of are Midori and Heifetz. Although many violinists have performed Bruch's Concerto in G minor.
- According to Tommy, during her pop pieces, she was accompanied by her band. That should prove interesting, as I've never seen Vanessa-Mae play any of her pop pieces with a full orchestra + her band (Even the Berlin performance didn't have this, and used pre-recorded accompanyment).
Now you see why I'd love to see footage of this concert so badly
Benji