Garrett vs. Paganini

In 2012, a lifelong dream of David Garrett will come true: In the feature film "The Devil's Violinist" (director: Bernard Rose) he will play the leading role. The film portrays the life of the devil fiddler, who is surrounded by numerous scandals and dark secrets, at the height of his art. David Garrett not only had a decisive influence on the film project and contributed to the script, but also wrote the orchestral arrangements of the Paganini pieces that can be heard in "The Devil's Violinist".

However, David Garrett does not want the album to be understood as film music: "I deliberately decided against simply making a soundtrack. First and foremost I am a violinist, so it was important to me that my instrument and its technical possibilities are in the foreground. "The star violinist explains the actual concept behind Garrett versus Paganini as follows: "Paganini is at the center of the album, also in purely quantitative terms. Most of the pieces to be heard are by himself and they are also the actual heart of the album, around which the other compositions and arrangements are grouped. These are either composers who influenced Paganini himself, such as Tartini, Vivaldi and Bach, or subsequent artists such as Liszt or Chopin, who would not be conceivable without the art and pioneering work that Paganini did, especially with regard to the virtuosity of the solo instrument". In this sense, David Garrett sees his idol as a central source of inspiration for all musicians who came after him. Even famous composers such as Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms - the latter published under opus number 35 his "Variations on a Theme by Paganini", which are among the most difficult piano works of the 19th century - explicitly refer to the charismatic violinist and composer.

With the release of the album "Garrett versus Paganini", the violinist opens another exciting chapter in his extraordinary career, which allows the various composers and works to enter into a dialogue spanning the epochs - with Niccolò Paganini as the "central star".
The album will also be released as a Deluxe Edition with a bonus CD containing parts of the film music (score).