Vanessa-Mae live at the Berlin Philharmonie September 4th 1996

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VANESSA-MAE

LIVE AT THE BERLIN PHILHARMONIE

A review from video tape

General impression
In August and September of 1996, Vanessa-Mae toured in Germany and Austria for the 'Classical Tour' on the European mainland. This classical tour followed the hugely successful 'Red Hot' world tour. With the release of her 'Classical Album 1' and this tour of concerts that followed the release, Vanessa-Mae unambiguously ended the speculations that she had no wishes to play classical music anymore because she had only commercial intensions with pursuing a pop career. On the contrary, with the album and tour of concerts, Vanessa-Mae proved beyond any doubt that she can have a dual career and earn money in both sections equally well. During the concert, Vanessa-Mae was accompanied by the Bratislava Radio symphonic Orchestra conducted by Bruno Membrey. Vanessa-Mae used her acoustic Guadagnini violin throughout the concert, with exception of the final song 'Red Hot Symphonic' for which she used the electric Zeta jazz violin. Tour dates for the 'Classical Tour' are listed in the 'Tour dates of Vanessa-Mae' section of this website. Scans of the tour brochure are also available, see: 'Tour brochures.'

The art work
The booklet of the video tape has the same photo as cover as does the 'Classical Album 1.' The back side of the tape is black with a track listing and additional text to introduce Vanessa-Mae and to explain the context of the concert.

Track listing

- Toccata & Fugue (J.S. Bach; arr. Batt; orch. Cameron) -
- Romance no 2 in F for violin and orchestra Op. 50 (Ludwig van Beethoven) -
- Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra Op. 46 (Max Bruch) -
- Carmen Fantasy (Bizet, Sarasate; arr. Vanessa-Mae; orch. Cameron) -
Red Hot Symphonic (Vanessa-Mae and Ian Wherry; orch Cameron)

The concert
The concert was more or less divided in three session. For each part, Vanessa-Mae appeared on stage in a different dress that matched the music performed in that session of the concert. During the first part of the show, Vanessa-Mae played Toccata & Fugue and the Romance in F. The Scottish Fantasy was played in the second part, and during the final part The Carmen Fantasy and Vanessa-Mae's own composition 'Red Hot' in a rendition for symphony orchestra were performed.

Vanessa-Mae looked awesome in all her dresses. For the first part, she wore a beautifully designed low-cut long black-green dress with shine-through train and small straps (see capture on the left on the upper row). After the first part, Vanessa-Mae changed into a bright yellow long dress that had an upper part with a nice sequin design and a long dress of darker yellow below. Noticeable are the black boots that Vanessa-Mae had on underneath the expensive dress (see the second and third capture on the upper row). The two captures on the second row, show Vanessa-Mae during the final part on the concert when had a short challenging red dress with small straps matching the romantic nature of a man seducing a woman in The Carmen Fantasy.

Close-ups of Vanessa-Mae' flawless visage show that she is perfectly made up in a very nice and beautiful way that renders her very natural looks (see the series of captures below).

Vanessa-Mae played extremely well, motivated and passionately during the whole concert, meeting live on stage the same the high quality as on the recordings. The concert started with Toccata & Fugue with an introduction on organ. After the concert opening is finished, Vanessa-Mae bows while receiving the first of standing ovations, and then she addressed the audience telling the people how glad she is to be back in Germany that she finds very beautiful in the autumn (see the captures below). She then introduced the next romantic piece by Beethoven. The Beethoven Romance in F is great to hear when played by Vanessa-Mae. Her tone and interpretation is simple and sweet, adequately reflecting the romantic nature. The timing of her play is perfect, making the listener see and feel the romance indeed.

Then Vanessa-Mae withdrew from the stage to prepare herself for the second part of the concert, When she re-appeared on stage, the audience welcomed her with applause for her return on stage as well for the great dress she was wearing. Vanessa-Mae then played 'The Scottish Fantasy' by Max Bruch. 'The Scottish Fantasy' is a really great piece of music that allows the solo violin player to exert all technical skills and expressiveness possible. Vanessa-Mae very well succeeded in conveying all the emotions present in the music to the audience, very well supported by the orchestra. This is definitely one of my favourite pieces for violin and I hope to see and hear Vanessa-Mae play this music live on stage one day: this is really one of my dreams. The audiences rewarded Vanessa-Mae with standing ovations several times during the breaks in between the various movements. The captures below show Vanessa-Mae during her performance of 'The Scottish Fantasy.'

Then, Vanessa-Mae walked of the stage again to get dressed for the final part of the concert. She showed up again when the guitarist already started to play the introduction of the first part of 'The Carmen Fantasy.' This introduction by a acoustic guitar is new since it is not in the version as Vanessa-Mae played it on her debut album 'Violin.' When Vanessa-Mae joined the guitar with her violin, a sheer romantic atmosphere started. One can really imagine two people being in love going around each other to find out whether their feelings are mutual, trying to tempt the other. The following parts of 'The Carmen Fantasy' were played as they are on Vanessa-Mae's debut album. This is really a spectacular piece of music, well played by both the orchestra and Vanessa-Mae, resulting in an interesting interpretation (see the three captures below).

The concert ended with 'Red Hot Symphonic,' a special arrangement of Vanessa-Mae's composition for acoustic violin and full orchestra. Vanessa-Mae calls upon the audience to join in and support her and the orchestra by clapping their hands. The result was an excited atmosphere and a spectacular end of a great concert.