Vanessa-Mae: Saying Power On Strings              

Reviews  Concert reviews  Photo Galleries  My Collection  Vanessa-Mae chronicle  Photo of the week       

QUOTE 1

source: Vanessa-Mae in Eve Magazine, October, 2004

'Crossover music stems from a classical heritage which is ambitious to embrace contemporary influences.'

source: Vanessa-Mae in Musical Opinion, October 31, 2004

source: Vanessa-Mae in the booklet of The Classical Collection part 1 (October 2000)

'I would only add an observation for the cynics who did not believe that it is possible to want to or to succeed in sharing my life with both classical and pop. A generous heart has room for many things - whether you give or receive'

source: Vanessa-Mae in 'The Classical Tour' brochure, 1996-1997

'It is great to have an amount of talent to be born with, but in the end it all comes to dedication and practising'

source: Vanessa-Mae in Peschardt's People, 2006

'I am trying not think about it, because once you start curtailing your life because of a stalker, they've won.

source: Vanessa-Mae in the Sunday Times, September 19, 2004

'Storm, Powerful Natural, Frightened? Then Hide From It, If Not, Enjoy It'

source: Vanessa-Mae in booklet of the 'Storm' album

'Coming back on tour, whether pop or classical, is always such a joy. I feel privileged to be able to alternate between both styles of music touring. That I can enjoy this liberating approach to music making is thanks in a large part to you all.'

source: Vanessa-Mae in the 'Original Four Seasons' tour brochure, 1999

When I was 12, I felt that I could have done more. When I was 15, I thought this is quite old compared to 12. And now, I am 22, the oldest I've ever been. But I feel I've grown into my age much more now.'

source: Vanessa-Mae on the Subject To change Interview cd, 2001

I think it is important to get away from the 'I am the first, the youngest to do this and do that.' It is not a competition, if you grow older and you start to understand that age is just a number and that when you grow older, you have more to say in your music.'

source: Vanessa-Mae on the  Subject To change Interview cd, 2001

'Lionel - for your 'I', Gaston and Gaspard - for being my babies'

source: Vanessa-Mae in her 'I'd like to thank' words in the Subject To Change booklet (2001)

'This piece has become a song of hope and a dance of joy. I perform it all over the world, in all my 'Storm' concerts for everyone in every country.'

Source: Vanessa-Mae in 'The Storm On World Tour' documentary telling about 'Happy Valley: The Re-Unification Overture.'

'thank you for being such a fantastic audience, making it possible for me to play so many kinds and styles of violin music by a lot of different composers'

source: Vanessa-Mae addressing the audience at her Classical concert in Berlin on September 4, 1996, see Vanessa-Mae live at the Berlin Philharmonie September 4th 1996 - review

'I can get inspiration from any moment when I am living'

source: Vanessa-Mae in the 'Making Of The Siemens Ad'(1998).

'I think that it is important every now and then, to take a break. When I was in  my teenage years it was no-stop.'

source: Vanessa-Mae in 'In The Front Seat' interviewed by Rhodri Owen for Audi Channel

'Bridging the dynamics of pop into classical is not always easy, but I think Poet's Quest works particularly well.'

source: Vanessa-Mae in the 'Storm On World Tour' documentary, 1998.

'I am really looking forward to playing live in front of my fans on tour.'

source: Vanessa-Mae at the MSN  interview video, 2001 

'I felt kind of special that night singing in the palace. In the song a young Chinese girl sings about her pain and confusion as she wants to respect tradition but also do her own thing.'

source: Vanessa-Mae in the 'Storm On world Tour' movie on her vocal performance of Reflection in Buckingham Palace, 1998.

'But I never wear make-up at home. It is nice for your skin to breathe and if you get used to seeing yourself with definition all the time you never know what you look like naturally.'

source: The Independent, October 16, 2004

'Without a listener, there is no music. So thank you so much for your support over the years and listening to my music through the seasons. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and I will be in studio next year working on bringing more music to you soon.'

source: Vanessa-Mae in her thank you all address to the Vanessa-Mae Fans Forum for the birthday presents in 2006.

'On this tour, I will be revisiting my childhood to some extent, with music by Tartini, Vivaldi and Vitali, which I performed after as a child. In both reading and performing these again, I have chosen to update them with adventurous ideas stemming from the confidence which your support for my individuality has given me.'

source: personal words of Vanessa-Mae in the 'Original Four Season Tour' brochure, 1999

'I am now sure that I will never feel that I belong to a country, which is not necessarily a bad thing. However, China fascinates me and there is much talent in a place so big.'

source: Vanessa-Mae's answer to a question of the VMF about her Chineseness and her feelings towards China, see: 2007 VMF birthday project for Vanessa-Mae

'The violin is versatile if the violinist is versatile, and I therefore stand to my conviction that both my classical and contemporary careers should go side by side'

source: Vanessa-Mae in her personal words in the Classical Album 1 booklet

I've learnt over the past 10 years or so that when critics come to face something they can't quite explain in words, threatens them and they tend to write negatively.

source: Interview Michael Peschardt with Vanessa-Mae.

'Oh, my dog!'

source: Audi, In The Front Seat, filmed interview of Rhodri Owen with Vanessa-Mae answering the question 'What would you say is Vanessa-Mae's biggest extravagance.'

'I quite enjoy being slightly different, so if that is a good thing sometimes or a bad thing, I am no quite sure.'

source: Peschardt's People, interview of Michael Peschardt with Vanessa-Mae, 2006 BBC World Television 

'but I like it when it is room temperature like babies drink it, you know, warm room temperature warm because then you can really taste it, makes you strong, makes you happy, bone'

Source: The Making of the Siemens Ad, Vanessa-Mae talking about her taste for milk.

'At the age of 21, I can see the strength for going solo and the weakness for staying working with my mother.'

source: Vanessa-Mae in the 'Subject To Change' EPK, 2001

'It looks like things are getting a bit serious over there with sheet music and music stands now appearing, so I guess I better dress at part 2. I mean, we don't want any comments like Vanessa-Mae, she not dressing right when she plays classical music.'

source: Vanessa-Mae: Live at the Royal Albert Hall, Red Hot Tour video and DVD, 1995.

'Through the violin, I speak to people, and my violin is my favourite partner in my musical life, definitely. Without my violin, I don't really fit to other people.'

source: The Making of the Siemens Ad, 1998

'You can't be financially independent from a young age and expect to have a full childhood'

source: Vanessa-Mae interviewed for the The Audi Magazine, December 2004

'The good thing is that I don’t obsess about money. I started earning at a very young age so it does not overwhelm me at all.'

source: Emirates Business, March 29, 2008

'Music is music. You either like it or you don't, whether it is classical or it is pop. Sure, to a certain extent, a good pop piece may be more immediate, but you would expect it to be, because it is created now, as music of this time which we live in. It should reflect things, emotions, issues, atmospheres, sounds that are present and around us. It is pop'

source: booklet of the Classical Album 1, 1996

'I didn't like the fact that I hade to share the piano with other students. It just didn't feel like mine. When you're a kid, the violin is like a little toy to you.'

source:  Vanessa-Mae talking about her switch from the piano to the violin, interview RTL television, October, 2004 

'I will probable be remembered as someone who bastardised classical music, but apart from that I like to be someone who injected fun into the violin'

source:  Vanessa-Mae talking about her switch from the piano to the violin, interview RTL television, October, 2004 

 'I've learnt over the past 10 years or so, that when critics come to face something they can't quite explain in words, threatens them and they tend to write negatively. When your shows are more entertaining than the average show then they have something to pick on. They want to keep what they know safe in a little box.'

source: Peschardt's People, BBC television 2006

'These recordings were really the start of my career. I don't really mark the beginning of my professional life until I aged 12 when I actually started professional recording'

source: The Classical collection part 1 Interview cd, October 2000. The quote comes from Vanessa-Mae commenting on the impact of her early recordings had on her career.

'But honestly, I might know how to make money, but I really have no idea how to make it grow.'

source: Emirates Business, March 29, 2008

'The engine sounds amazing. The first time I drove it, the instant I put my foot on the pedal it just flew. It was like Whoooah.'

source: Vanessa-Mae talking about her Audi S4 Quattro Avant, Audi Magazine, December 2004

'As my teachers started to get more excited, they started telephoning my parents and say, she has a bit of potential maybe she likes to develop it further and it rolled on from there.'

source: Vanessa-Mae at ABC's Good Morning America television show, November 24, 1997, talking on how she started to play the violin.

'If I had to flog my albums 50 years ago by taking a boat, I mean, it would have taken me five years to promote one album'

source: Vanessa-Mae in the The Money Program, The BBC, aired November 30, 2007.

'I don't seek to be controversial, I 'just end up being controversial.'

source: Vanessa-Mae: The Making Of Me, BBC documentary aired on August 7, 2008

QUOTE 48

'This feasible instrument has given me so much history, memories and beauty in my life, and it has basically dictated my life.'

source: Vanessa-Mae: The Making Of Me, BBC documentary aired on August 7, 2008

QUOTE 49

'The general idea for me is that I rather have done less but to a perfect level, than just loss over life.'

source: Vanessa-Mae: The Making Of Me, BBC documentary aired on August 7, 2008

QUOTE 50

'When I was about seven, I said to my mother 'how much money do I have to earn to be able to eat caviar every day?'

source: The Money Program, BBC broadcast November 30, 2007

QUOTE 51

'I plan to play for you one more Paganini, just to show you that Paganini works just as well on a modern instrument'

source: 'Vanessa-Mae: Live at the Royal Albert Hall,' June 30, 1996 EMI video

QUOTE 52

'But when you reach your 20's, you have to find things out for yourself.'

source: Vanessa-Mae in the Daily Mail Weekend, May 5, 2001

QUOTE 53

'I still want a mother and daughter relationship. I just don't want my mum as my manager'

source: Vanessa-Mae in Now Magazine, December 8, 2004

QUOTE 54

'I am really bad you know, because when I came to planning the seconds between the tracks, I couldn't quite imagine because I am a real zapper. I go from 2 to 6 to 4.'

source: Vanessa-Mae talking about the silence before the hidden track on Subject To Change,  Subject To Change interview cd, 2001 (entry 46).

QUOTE 55

'Without a listener, there is no music.'

source: Vanessa-Mae in her address to her fans in reply to the 28th bday presents, 2006, Vanessa-Mae Fans Forum

QUOTE 56

source: Vanessa-Mae on the Live and Kicking show answering a telephone question about how she sounded when she first played the violin, BBC, December 13, 1997.

QUOTE 57

source: Vanessa-Mae in the Red Hot documentary, EMI 1995

QUOTE 58

'So, I wasn't a chicken. I thought well, I just don't want to be girlish about this.'

source: Vanessa-Mae: The Making Of Me (BBC documentary, August 2008). Vanessa-Mae commenting after she did well at the race track test.

QUOTE 59

'Es ist ein große ehre fur die Echo Awards hier zu sein. Und natürlich, es ist wunderbar wieder in Deutschland zu sein.'

source: Vanessa-Mae's thank you words and award accepting address at the Echo Awards, Munich Germany, November 1997. See Vanessa-Mae at the Echo Awards video at the Vanessa-Mae Channel at YouTube

QUOTE 60

'Yes, there are not that many boyfriends to cover, but...'

source: Asia Life, television interview, November 2001. Vanessa-Mae answering a question whether her forthcoming autobiography will cover 'boyfriends.' - the link directs to a video of the interview at our Vanessa-Mae channel at YouTube.

QUOTE 61

'I have lots of visitors in my hotel rooms, make-up artists, my p.a. and things like that. Sometimes I have my family on the road with me'

source: Vanessa-Mae in Michael Peschardt's People (2006) answering 'Are you lonely at these hotel rooms?'

QUOTE 62

''I try to understand both worlds, and trying to bring both together in one piece of music is very natural.'

source: Vanessa-Mae in The Making of the Siemens Ad (1998), when she commented on her electric acoustic fusion concept to combine elements of classical and pop music in one piece.

QUOTE 63

'In this country, people just want their child to be happy. But to be happy as a child, means that you have to invest  time and hard work in becoming a better adult.'

source: Vanessa-Mae on wise women, BBC February 27, 2009, commenting on the question: are we in danger in celebrating mediocrity in this country.

QUOTE 64

'Yeah, I don't see it, to tell you the truth. I know it is there. you see it on the TV and in newspapers. It never happened to me personally.'

source: Vanessa-Mae in Michael Peschardt's People (2006) talking about experiencing racism

QUOTE 65

'I am really not a big shopper at all, I can't stand shopping for clothes. I have a mans patience, literally half and hour and then I am out'

source: Vanessa-Mae in Michael Peschardt's People (2006) talking about experiencing racism

QUOTE 66

'The pieces that I really wanted to record at that age were the Tchaikovsky and Beethoven violin concertos. So when I recorded those, I remember thinking, I can die tomorrow and I fulfilled all my goals'

source: Vanessa-Mae in In The Front Seat, interview by Rhodri Owen for the Audi channel (2004 or 2005)

QUOTE 67

'Hello, I am Vanessa-Mae. I am 12 years old and I am a concert violinist.'

source: Vanessa-Mae in the BBC documentary All about me, aired on September 21, 1991

QUOTE 68

'I was a lazy kid at times. It wasn't like: Oh let me practise many hours a day! I needed a push every now and then.'

source: Vanessa-Me in Peschardt's People (BBC World Service 2006)

QUOTE 69

'I think there is nothing more exciting than then be in the music business. I had all the things my friends had, I just spent more time working but that was my choice.'

source: Vanessa-Me in The Making Of The Siemens Ad (EMI, 1998)

QUOTE 70

'I am not just a clumsy girl on high heels'

source: Vanessa-Me in an address to the audience during her concert in Westonbirt, July 18, 2009, see our Review on Vanessa-Mae live at the Westonbirt Arboretum.

QUOTE 71

'I love dogs that are traditionally considered ugly, like Staffordshire Terriers, French Bulldogs, Rottweillers and Sharpies, which is what I have at the moment. I love the ugly slobbery ones'

source: Vanessa-Mae in Seven, the weekly magazine of the Daily Telegraph, January 18, 2009

QUOTE 72

source: Vanessa-Mae on her role at the reunification of Hong Kong to China, interview documentary, Finish television October 1997

QUOTE 73

source: Vanessa-Mae on her role at the reunification of Hong Kong to China, interview documentary, Finish television October 1997

QUOTE 74

source: Vanessa-Mae addressing her fans on the occasion of her 30th birthday on her transparent Ted Brewer violin, read the topic in  The Fans Forum (VMF).

QUOTE 75

source: Vanessa-Mae addressing her fans on the occasion of her 31st birthday last October 27 answering a question about surviving hectic tour schedules -  read the topic in  The Fans Forum (VMF).

QUOTE 76

source:  Vanessa-Mae: The Making Of Me (BBC documentary, August 2008). Vanessa-Mae talking about a memory before meeting a neuro-scientist to do some testing in order to investigate coordination of mind and upper limbs motion.

QUOTE 77

source: Vanessa-Mae in her thank you to you all words for her fans as reaction to the presents sent to her by members of the Vanessa-Mae Fans Forum to the occasion of her 31st birthday last October 27, 2009.

QUOTE 78

source: Vanessa-Mae in Subject To Change EPK 2001 (follow the link to read our review with screen captures!)

QUOTE 79

source: Vanessa-Mae talking about her new album in Subject To Change EPK 2001 (follow the link to read our review with screen captures!)

QUOTE 80

'Also, I love driving. I was quite a late starter, but when I got my tests sorted, I loved getting a car, go out of the city and have fun'

source: In the front seat: Vanessa-Mae, video interview by Rhodri Owen for Audi Cars, 2004

QUOTE 81

QUOTE 82

source: Vanessa-Mae commenting her vocal role on the new album Subject To Change during an interview with Russell  Peters on Asia Live for BBC television, November 2001. See Vanessa-Mae and Russell Peters video at The Vanessa-Mae channel at YouTube

QUOTE 83

'Next, we have for you a rather unusual piece. This one is by Argentinean composer Piazzolla who wrote some wonderful music. What we will play for you is Fugata, it has been written and scored for some quite unusual instruments and stamps.'

source: Vanessa-Mae introducing Fugata to her audience during her Alternative Classical Concert in Birmingham on January 25, 1997, see Vanessa-Mae playing Fugata.

QUOTE 84

'Well, I tried singing before, and I did a couple of songs on some albums. But I don't think I have a great voice, so I stopped singing.'   

source: Vanessa-Mae commenting on her vocal ambitions at a press conference in Minks, Belarus, June 20, 2010, see the video Vanessa-Mae in Minsk, Belarus on Belarus official Press Center.

QUOTE 85

'Singing is great, when you have a blessed voice. I enjoyed my time experimenting with my voice. It is not my specialty.'  

source: Vanessa-Mae commenting on her vocal ambitions at a press conference in Minks, Belarus, June 20, 2010, see the video Vanessa-Mae in Minsk, Belarus on Belarus official Press Center.