Nigel Kennedy,生于1956年,英国布莱顿人,是个打扮像庞克族的小提琴怪杰。
惊世骇俗的造型和作风引起不少议论,但是超绝的小提琴技巧却又令人无言以对。以一首艾尔加小提琴协奏曲被英国人捧为杜普蕾之后,最伟大的器乐天才。最重要的,他是吉尼斯世界纪录见证史上专辑最畅销的古典音乐家。 早年在Yehudi Menuhin School学琴,后入美国朱利亚音乐学院学习,成为小提琴教母狄蕾的入室弟子。1985年首次录制艾尔加的小提琴协奏曲,就获得留声机唱片大奖的「年度最佳唱片」,而「四季」专辑更让他事业攀登巔峰,肯尼迪却因身心俱疲选择告别乐坛。1997年四月,肯尼迪於伦敦宣布复出,顿时成为乐坛大事,他不仅著力於古典音乐的完美展现,更将触角伸及至各个音乐领域。才华洋溢,也是著名的爵士乐手。
这张专辑包含了很多最著名的小提琴作品,像Massenet的《Meditation from Thais》,萨拉萨蒂的《流浪者之歌》等,还有像Danny Boy这样的民歌。肯尼迪用了有别于传统的演奏手法来演奏一些名曲,听起来是另外一种感觉,有些人不喜欢这种改变,但究竟如何,下来听听就知道了。
Just in case you thought Nigel Kennedy--fresh from his Hendrix tribute album--had left the classical music repertoire for good, think again. On Classic Kennedy, the fiddler is situated with the English Chamber Orchestra in a program that spans from Bach to Satie. (Yes, you also get a Joni Mitchell tune; "Scarborough Fair"; and the fiddler's own forgettable "Melody in the Wind," too.) The sequencing is a bit disjointed--the summer storm from The Four Seasons is followed by Massenet's blissful "Meditation" from Thaïs--and Kennedy's performances range from good to fair. The English Chamber Orchestra does an admirable job on these diverse works (it deserves a lot of credit here), but it'll be up to the listener to decide whether he or she wants to hear "Air on the G String" followed by Kennedy's version of "Danny Boy." As with most Kennedy discs, you'll either love it or hate it. --Jason Verlinde