Fall destroys rare Stradivarius

[Jules]

Fall destroys rare Stradivarius : MI Pro

[Ruphus]

I would had thought such instruments to be carried in carbon fiber cases.
Assumably in this case not. Too bad, really.

Ruphus

[Sugarnutz]

Guy needs to take a lession from the Rock & Roll side and get himself an Anvil case made for it.

[orange]

don't you just hate it when that happens......


apparently it was in some kind of case
BBC NEWS | Magazine | How to repair a Stradivarius?

[diamondjim]

Hard to believe he did not have the proper case. I got a real nice case for my antique violin (not a Strad!). That was after I backed my car over the old one.
$1800 damage. True fact!

[peeder]

The guy who fell on it is a fekking male model

938LIVE.sg

He’s equally at home in front of the camera than he is behind the violin. German-born violinist David Garrett – who is another addition to the influx of crossover instrumental artists – used to model while studying at the prestigious Julliard school in New York. I spoke with the 24-year-old musician – who looks a lot like actor Josh Holloway who plays Sawyer in the TV series Lost – and asked him what he no longer misses about the modeling industry…

Garrett: “All the stuff I liked I couldn’t eat (laughs) that's why I'm not doing it anymore. Of course chocolates are like a big thing for me. I mean I love eating chocolates. It's a terrible thing.

I can't believe it...cue Zoolander jokes...but not funny. There should be an IQ test for handling one of these pieces of our cultural legacy.

And how do we know he just didn't break a nail and have a hissy fit? Arsehole.

Thinking about it further and looking at the picture of this guy I do NOT believe the falling down the stairs story. Were there witnesses to that? Saw the violin before and after? I bet this kid (a soloist from the age of 10 and now 25) is completely emotionally unstable and smashed his Stradivarius intentionally. And I do think this should come out and cause a bit of discussion about what to do.

[mdme_sadie]

<Anakin>NOOOOOOOO000000000ooooooooo.......</Anakin> :(

I feel sorry for the guy, I really doubt it was foul play - concert halls are crowded packed places and it probably was witnessed, the luthiers and insurance company would also be on the look out for that anyway with such an expensive item (it's not impossible to spot the difference between a violin crushed in it's case and one smashed up and then put into a case), but the guy really does need to get a proper case for his instrument.

I think it's worth being a little lenient on the guy, after all being a model doesn't automatically make you a drama queen, a jerk or emotionally unstable, just like being a musician doesn't automatically do the same. There are plenty of people under the age of 90 who are capable of being quite responsible, even when under the spotlight.

[pan60]

absolutely horrific: (~
a tragic loss of true art, i do hope it can indeed be repaired.
very sad news :(~

[Pasta4lnch]

wow - that sucks! That would be my fate if I were an instrument. To survive a few centuries only to meet my demise by some dude falling down stairs . . .

Let this be a lesson to all rare instrument owners . . . get good frickin' cases!!

[billgennaro]

if the soundboard wasn't damaged too much there's a chance of restoring this baby to its former grandeur (or at least close).

can you imagine the moment he opened the case and first saw the damage? at least he was the owner of the thing (and how is possible that he could afford such a thing at age 26? does the lpo pay that well?). many of these old strads are owned by collectors who want them played by professional players. to have broken someone else's multi-million dollar stradavarius really would've pissed me off.

[pan60]

i would be very surprised, if it were not repairable, but it will never be the same.
even if it sound great, it will always be damage goods:(~
lets hope it is not to far gone.
is their any photos of the damage that anyone has seen?

[FFTT]

That instrument should be in a flight case, inside another flight case.

This player may be a genius virtuoso violinist, but he's a functional idiot!

[Unclenny]

Heard the interview with him on NPR..........unfortunate occurance.

[Jax]

Yeah, I know he destroyed a Strad, but that's not what gets me. What gets me is this (from the article):

To enable David to play at a special Valentines Day concert, London-based dealer, J&A Beare has offered the use of another Stradivarius, worth an estimated £2.5 million to the virtuoso musician. David Morris, director of J&A Beare was thrilled to be able to help Garrett and commented:

“I know how difficult it is when you have to do a concert and you don’t have the instrument to do it with. There’s more demand than we can supply, so we can’t help everyone who comes through the door, but in this instance we could and we are delighted to be able to. We always help out whenever we can.”

By the way, I doubt that Garrett intended for it to happen. Passing around the idea that he's probably unstable seems a bit paranoid and litigious (but hey, this is America!) to me. Symptom of our "you must be ****ed up if you did that" culture.

[Pasta4lnch]

Originally Posted by Jax

Yeah, I know he destroyed a Strad, but that's not what gets me. What gets me is this (from the article):

To enable David to play at a special Valentines Day concert, London-based dealer, J&A Beare has offered the use of another Stradivarius, worth an estimated £2.5 million to the virtuoso musician. David Morris, director of J&A Beare was thrilled to be able to help Garrett and commented:

“I know how difficult it is when you have to do a concert and you don’t have the instrument to do it with. There’s more demand than we can supply, so we can’t help everyone who comes through the door, but in this instance we could and we are delighted to be able to. We always help out whenever we can.”

By the way, I doubt that Garrett intended for it to happen. Passing around the idea that he's probably unstable seems a bit paranoid and litigious (but hey, this is America!) to me. Symptom of our "you must be ****ed up if you did that" culture.

He should have had to play the concert w/ a $200 Carlos Robelli (actually any good player could make that work!)

[LackOfIntelect]

Originally Posted by Pasta4lnch

He should have had to play the concert w/ a $200 Carlos Robelli (actually any good player could make that work!)

And would have fooled 99%

[TAVD]

His slip was no doubt a result of the latest trendy footwear. Had he been wearing an old pair of Chucks, he would've stuck the landing.

[Pasta4lnch]

Originally Posted by LackOfIntelect

And would have fooled 99%

exactly!

[Factory101]

I definitely told the cleaners NOT to polish the stairs!

[sonare]

He SHOULD be thankful he fell on the violin rather than breaking a wrist (either one). That would cost him alot more-- IF his career is as stellar as described.

Rich

[viberunner]

Originally Posted by LackOfIntelect

And would have fooled 99%

Significant under-estimate I think.

[kafka]

Originally Posted by sonare

He SHOULD be thankful he fell on the violin rather than breaking a wrist (either one). That would cost him alot more-- IF his career is as stellar as described.

Nah. No violinist's career is stellar unless they're still playing as a soloist with top-tier orchestras after the age of 30. It's unfortunate, but "cuteness" is a big, big deal in the violin world - even more so than talent.

[nulldevice]

I remember back in the 80's there was a full-page ad that ran in all the string mags for SuspensionAire cases, with some guy saying "I drove off with my strad in a case on top of my car, it fell off at 75MPH and it didn't have a scratch!"

I could only think "why do they let this idiot have a Strad if he's going to put it on top of his car and forget that it's there?" I mean, I have a german violin that's only 150 years old, not NEARLY Strad quality, and I never let that thing out of my grip when I'm taking it anywhere.

[BadOrange]

Yo Yo Ma left his Cello in a taxi cab. Shit happens. Good artists tend to be a little scatterbrained.

[tomlee]

what what no video???? !!!!!