Classic rock fuels desire to be different
A classical virtuoso in rock star's clothing? What will the purists think?
And we're not just talking about classical purists. The symphony-meets-classic-rock ''crossover'' music that the violinist David Garrett has parlayed into platinum record sales brings howls of disdain from rock fans, too. They think he can be overblown and hammy.
Not that anyone can question the German-born musician's credentials or blistering proficiency. He picked up the violin at four, was soloing with the London Philharmonic at eight, signed to a classical label at 13, was a pupil at New York's eminent Juilliard School of music (working as a model to help pay his way) and went on to take the Guinness record as the world's fastest violinist.
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David Garrett's <em>Rock Symphonies</em>.
David Garrett's Rock Symphonies.
He also idolised rocks stars.
Garrett, 31, started sprinkling rock and pop into his classical recordings about five years ago and has gone the whole hog on his latest album, Rock Symphonies, covering classics from Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and Metallica's Master of Puppets to Led Zeppelin's Kashmir.
He has been dubbed the ''David Beckham of classical music'' - a tag he doesn't mind. Oprah Winfrey calls him ''fantastic''. He has sold more than 2 million albums.
Taste and credibility are, of course, another story. The classical crowd is particularly sniffy about crossover applications - not to mention men with skull jewellery and eyeliner. But Garrett - who hopes to perform in Australia early next year - brushes aside the naysayers.
''I always thought that being a classical violinist … it is almost part of the tradition to incorporate modern elements into your repertoire,'' he says. ''If you look at the history of violinists … they all actually ended up doing arrangements of contemporary popular pieces.
''In the last 50, 60 years, it's kind of like - I don't know why - it stopped, and I feel it's part of your responsibility as a classical musician to get the attention of an audience. And that helps a lot.''
His kind of crossover sound sells because ''there's an appetite for good music'', he says. ''There's so much music which is being manufactured these days. I think people do realise something has quality and really comes out of a reason.''
He sees himself as a trailblazer. ''The easy way … is to just go along playing classical music and not have anybody complain about it. But for me it was important to make a difference. I think that is something which takes maybe a lot of courage at some point.''
As for image, Garrett takes smouldering to new heights. The photographs on Rock Symphonies show a heavily accessorised, uber-cool bad boy striking poses in some airbrushed amalgam of Kid Rock, Kurt Cobain and generic rocker. Did he have trouble keeping a straight face during the shoot?
''No - actually I'm pretty good at these things,'' he says brightly. ''I like taking a good picture, it's fun … Actually, to be quite honest, I'm always the one who is pushing to do something more crazy.''
Contrivance isn't for him. ''That's the way I am - that's the way I perform classical music … I just see myself as authentic as possible. When I started this project, I never thought of it in a commercial sense. For me it was always important to reach a certain younger audience.''
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/mus … 1lj10.html
Отредактировано Elina (01.04.2012 01:19)
