I must admit that I had never been a huge fan of instrumental music. There was even time in my life when I did not treat it as "a real kind of music" at all. Good music without lyrics?! How can that be possible?
Fortunately I overcame my fear of instrumental music when I heard a piece of music which the choreographer of my dance group chose for our next performance. I loved the music and immediately asked about the performer.
It was: VANESSA MAE
She is an internationally known British violinist. Vanessa was born in Singapore in 1978 but her family moved to England when she was four. She grew up in London and holds British citizenship. She began playing piano at the age of three and violin at five <wow>
Vanessa-Mae moved from a classical recording career into the field of popular music with her album, "The Violin Player". Many criticise her for not being classical enough, even calling her kitschy, but I really think that comparing her to great classical geniuses is not a good idea. She is doing something totally different and such comparison is not applicable here.
In 2009 her new album should be released but unfortunately nothing like that happened. Could you imagine my surprise when I read on wikipedia that "In 2009 Vanessa-Mae took up residence in the Swiss alpine resort Zermatt. A skier since the age of five, she plans to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics as a downhill skier, representing Thailand" <again - wow>
Below: my favourite pieces
