[dj_mocok]

I just bought a Vanessa Mae "The Violin Player" CD today, and was listening to it from my portable-->MX500 on the way home.

I was listening to "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor"
It sounds good, dont know how to explain this, im not an audiophile... sounds clean, and detailed ?

the violin play sounds great, but its just somehow missing something... sounds good but i couldnt find "life" in the violin. it didnt have that "heart-piercing" sound and didnt evoke your feeling... and i think violin is one of those instruments that is suppose to be very "emotive" ? especially when its held by such wonder as Vanessa Mae ?

Am i asking too much from a measly cd player and an MX500 combination ?

I just wanna know how, other headfiers that happen to have this record and a decent headphone rig, how does this song sound like on your system ?
I am curious how it is suppose to sound....

 

[fiddler]

I think the problem might be the violinist, not the headphones...

 

[Ross]

Quote:

Am i asking too much from a measly cd player and an MX500 combination ?

I think you're asking too much of Vanessa Mae. If you want "heart-piercing" violin, try Heifetz, Milstein, Stern, Grumiaux, Chung, Oistrakh or any of the other great violinists.

 

[ooheadsoo]

mm...definitely the violinist

How can you not include perlman for "heart piercing?"

 

[fiddler]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ross I think you're asking too much of Vanessa Mae. If you want "heart-piercing" violin, try Heifetz, Milstein, Stern, Grumiaux, Chung, Oistrakh or any of the other great violinists.

I beat you to it.

I second all of the above.

 

[dj_mocok]

hmmm...that maybe true too....considering i am actually listening to a teenager ( i think she was 14 or something when she recorded it). might need 20 more years before she became real master ? hehe..

anyway, if you think the musician is the "bottleneck"...
(musician is the bottleneck of my system...gee, thats new, hehe..)
i may consider that as true too, i dont know...

i tried to play the cd on my PC system with my speakers, it didnt sound that great too... but when my PC plays Norah Jones, its not bad at all... but when i play Vanessa Mae on my pc, the soundstage improve, but the violin still lacks of life...

Or maybe its just this damn bad quality CD ?
(the most common scapegoat, hehe...)

 

[fiddler]

I don't think age matters. Listen to young Menuhin, or Michael Rabin.

Talent, however, matters.

 

[dj_mocok]

couldnt find rabin anywhere... however, mehunin, i found it.

is this the one you are talking about ?


yenuhin mehudi.

they only have 1 cd from him here : SEXTETTE OP.18 + OP.36

is that any good ?

 

[fiddler]

Yehudi Menuhin, yes.. He got afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis when he got a bit older, so his technique went downhill with that. He hit his prime at a very young age. I'd look for recordings before 1950.

 

[Ross]

Try this one.

 

[dj_mocok]

silly me...
our biggest music store here has a few of them CDs :

http://www.hmv.com.au/v4/search/sear...tTitle&Fmt=Any

do you know which one is the best one ?

just thought about this...since the recordings are mostly from old times, eg. 50's... how would it sound ? i know its been remastered or something... but does it sound like a normal cd (good quality), or does it sound like....well.... 1950's recordings ? or sounds like a cassette?

 

[Permonic]

What's problem with Vanessa Mae?

If you would like to compare her performance to the other violin solists, buy her classical albums "Original Four Seasons" or "China Girl". That's the classical. She might be beaten by Paganini, Heifetz or Perlman but her current style is however different. It's something between classical, electronica, new age and dance. And I like this style. It's about to be different.

I have been playing violin for 18 years. In the music school and orchestra I had to practise and practise Krucek, Haydn, etc. later Vivaldi, Mozart, Smetana, etc....There're wonderful pieces to play, however what I was missing many times, especially when I was younger, was the contemporaneousness. The classical didn't enjoy me all the time, I wanted to play also contemporary music, so I simply start to play songs written for guitar by my violin. Yes, it sounded strange, but I enjoyed it very much.

That' in fact what she's doing. Trying to introduce the violin to the other genres. This, however, isn't an easy thing, violin tends to have the rest of (symphonic) orchestra in the background. Also this album was pioneering. I guess she mastered it quite well. However it's a pity that her imitators are quite bad (e.g. girls quartet Bond).

I also see the problem of electric violin. The sound reproduced from original wooden bodies is somehow more full and dynamic and it's easy to express the mood of the song, while electrical version is very analytical and artifical. Vanessa Mae uses both of them. The use of electric violin could also create the feeling that emotions are suppressed.

To the album: "The Violin Player" is kind of relaxing album, apart of the Bach's cover version of Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Her second album "Storm" 1997 is far better (for me), album "Destiny" (2001) is dissimilar (several songs are very simple to me) and doesn't have any classical cover versions.

 

[GanChan]

Quote:

Originally posted by ooheadsoo mm...definitely the violinist How can you not include perlman for "heart piercing?"

Or DeBakey?

 

[go_vtec]

Although this is not MUSIC forum, I thought we were not suppose to criticize others for their taste/selection in music.

 

[Geek]

I can play Paganini's No. 24 faster and more cleanly than her and actually hit the tenths

She's a recycled pop violinist, hehe.

Just my opinion, though. Anyways, for budget your buds sound like a pretty good deal. They should sound great with electronic and rock (which is where mae falls under; she uses an electric violin with a barbara pickup).

Cheers,
Geek