Posted on 02/14/2008 4:30:36 PM PST by RDTF
LONDON (AP) -- Can his fractured fiddle - a million dollar Guadagnini - be fixed? It's too early to tell.
David Garrett, a former model who has been called the David Beckham of the classical scene, said he tripped while carrying his 18th century violin as he was leaving London's Barbican Hall after a performance, smashing it to bits.
"I had it over my shoulder in its case and I fell down a concrete flight of stairs backward," Garrett said Thursday. "When I opened the case, much of my G.B. Guadagnini had been crushed."
Garrett said he bought the 1772 violin for $1 million in 2003, and he is now hoping to get it repaired in New York, where he is based.
"I hope and pray that it can be fixed, but if it can't, I hope my insurance policy will let me buy another great violin," the 26-year-old musician said. He told The Associated Press that other published accounts saying the violin was a Stradivarius were incorrect. Guadagnini is believed by some to have been a student of Antonio Stradivari.
The accident occurred Dec. 27 but only came to light this week when he returned to London for another concert at the Barbican and told British reporters what had happened.
For his Valentine's Day concert there, he is playing a Stradivarius that's been loaned to him.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at dispatch.com ...
I feel sorry for Lloyds.
Doh!
Better read the fine print!
What dumb ass loaned him another one?
I’ve got cyanoacrylate glue and F-clamps, I’ll be right over!
Kind of like the time I cracked the neck on the 72’ telecaster
"I just fell backwards down a flight of stairs."
Yes, but did you damage the violin?"
classical music ping
A real friend is one who would lend you his Stradivarius after you’ve just trashed your Guadagnini...
He’s purdy!
(Nice fiddle too).
I can’t entirely buy this story. I would think a hard case would provide better protection, and such a serious fall would have injured the violinist as well.
Ah!, fiddlesticks.
I suggest that he buy a better case.
would you let this guy play your Stradivarius on Valentine’s Day?
I heard him play. Amazing!
We can rebuild it. Make it stronger. Faster. Better.
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