Violinist david garrett played for thousands in bayreuth

Let no one say there was nothing there for him. Flamenco, tango, samba, blues, rock, heavy metal and sirtaki: surely not all the inventors of these styles had thought of conditioning this music for the violin. That's why there's david garrett, who could probably create a veritable arrangement for string orchestra out of the instructions for a dishwasher.

But he doesn't need to, because the world – his world – is full of world-famous tonal originals. And the 12,000 or so visitors at the festplatz in bayreuth: they get great cinema, which is not least due to the XXL screen that captures the epicenter of this saturday evening. All of them were allowed to revel in images, for example to peter tchaikovsky's swan lake with a solo ballet interlude that was breathed in with gusto. A mount everest of classical music, cast for eternity. Garrett barely touches the already perfect blueprint.
But the 32-year-old doesn't always leave the original in its original form. Jorge bizet's "carmen he works in a racy sound carpet. Even in works that already play in a higher tempo league, garrett still turns the throttle. His dexterity is especially in demand for pieces like "tico tico", of that latin american joie de vivre expressed in fiery harmonies.

David rocks them all
Interspersed with garrett's trademark: rock and pop, classical for strings, sometimes even kitschy. Coldplay, AC/DC, metallica. He's got a crush on queen, he, the devil's violinist (as the film of the same name with garrett in the leading role as paganini is called). It was an honor for him when he was asked to play some pieces to the original arrangements of the rock heroes. In return garrett is allowed to exclusively use original pictures and vocals of freddy mercury. He does it on "the show must go on", a high point in the two-hour program. Goose bump atmosphere, when the deceased sanger flits across the screen in larger than life size and garrett pays homage to the musical role model with an ingenious violin part.
Interspersed in the 28 works and sometimes killing the mood: anecdotes from life as a sought-after star violinist. About survival in hotels, when the room service for the snack emergency only works by catastrophe call. From the train driver, who is the "source of larm" over the ubiquitous garrett complains. And of an unusual improvisation of "ave maria in the helene fischer show. "I didn't have enough time to look at the sheet music. I put it on the floor during the dress rehearsal and played it from the sheet. Reading music is no disgrace either." In the live broadcast, the shock: the notes were still there, but the crew blew in ground fog.