David Garrett – the world’s fastest virtuoso violinist

David Garrett is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the fastest virtuoso violinist. Playing 13 notes per second, he performed Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee in 66.5 seconds, and later improved his record by playing this piece in 65 seconds.

David Garrett was called the prodigy from Aachen. At the age of 10, he gave his first concert on the stage of the Hamburg Philharmonic, and at 12 he already performed with Yehudi Menuhin. From that time on, he began playing the 1703 Stradivarius violin. When he was 13, he was signed by a record company. After graduating from the world’s best educators, Garrett works with renowned conductors and plays with legendary orchestras.

German-American violinist David Garrett is called the Paganini of our time. He masterfully combines a variety of genres. It is interesting that at one time the skilful violinist was expelled from the Royal College of Music. This is probably why rock, born as a musical rebellion, is so close to its bow. His collection of incredible arrangements includes artful rock covers of modern and classical compositions.

Competition of virtuosos

Young, but already well-known in Buryatia and beyond, singer and composer Ludub Ochirov posted two videos on social networks at once, where he plays “Flight of the Bumblebee”. This orchestral interlude was written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, composed in 1899-1900. The interlude ends the third act, in which the Swan-Bird turns Prince Guidon into a bumblebee so that he can fly to his father.

“Flight of the Bumblebee” is known for its incredibly fast tempo – the keys change almost continuously. Therefore, the main difficulty for the performer is not the pitch or range of the sound, but the purely physical ability (depending on what instrument he uses) to move the bow back and forth with tremendous speed or very quickly move his fingers over the keys.

Today “Flight of the Bumblebee” has become something of a competition of solo virtuosos and thanks to this it is the most famous work of Rimsky-Korsakov in the world. So, in 2007, the German violinist David Garrett entered the Guinness Book of Records, performing an interlude in 1 minute 6.56 seconds.

However, Briton Ben Lee soon broke this record with 58.05 seconds.

And in 2015, he was four seconds ahead of the Belarusian violinist Maimuna, who, together with the singer Yuzari, represented Belarus at Eurovision. She played “Bumblebee” not at the competition itself, but at a press conference dedicated to him in Austria.

The talented Buryat also decided to try his hand. The first video, which the 17-year-old Ludub posted on his Instagram, is 59 seconds long. Ochirov had practically finished the interlude when the recording was cut off – that is, it took him a little over a minute.

 But in the second video, the blind musician did exactly 50 seconds. “The record has been broken!” He wrote. Subscribers were delighted with Ludub’s performance. “Class!”, “Well done”, “Gorgeous”, – they note in the comments. In less than a day, the video received almost 900 views.

“Flight of the Bumblebee” by virtuoso David Garrett

In the world of music, there is really a huge competition between musicians, which not every person can withstand.

And do not forget that even hard work, constant work on oneself and continuous studies can not always solve everything. Talent, natural gift – that’s what else can be the key to the complete success of any artist.

And 39-year-old violinist David Garrett is the best proof that this is actually the case. When the boy was only 4 years old, his father bought a violin for his older brother. But David himself woke up interest in music, so he learned to own the instrument quickly enough.

Already at a young age, Garrett received many awards and prestigious awards. When the guy was only 11 years old, he received the first Stradivarius violin. Such a gift to the future star was made by the President of Germany, Richard von Weizsäcker. And so David’s career went up, and the guy himself reached new heights.

He is one of the few musicians to have the honor of playing a violin made by Stradivari himself, called “San Lorenzo”. And this is already an indicator that David was born in order to become the most real musical genius of our time, if not century.

In 2008, David Garrett was honored to be included in the Guinness Book of Records. The musician was able to play the legendary “Flight of the Bumblebee” in just 65 seconds. The entire performance took place at the Guinness World Records: Die Größten Weltrekorde in Germany, where the violinist performed.

Few of the outstanding musicians manage to master the very “Flight of the Bumblebee”, but Garrett did it incredibly beautifully, professionally, clearly and quickly. And so we advise you to watch the musician’s playing. After all, what he did is really worthy of respect. Enjoy his music with us.

Rock Opera “Mozart”: Optimistic Requiem

France is known not only for croissants, the most romantic city in the world, the Eiffel Tower, shocking pop stars and artists whose eccentric profiles created with the help of professional writers of the LPWS service https://lpws.pro/ overwhelm Linkedin tape.

Another French treasure is two masterpiece musicals that even Broadway stars cannot remember without a touch of envy. In 1998, the premiere of the legendary Notre Dame de Paris, and since then, as it seemed to music lovers, it was already impossible to make a more spectacular production.

But 11 years have passed and incredible changes have occurred everywhere. There was a global economic crisis, Barack Obama became president of the United States, and Linkedin became the first business-oriented social network in the world. Recruiters began to search for employees on the Internet, and more and more HR managers began to use custom url for Linkedin company page.

These changes also affected the music. Therefore, Esmeralda had to share folk love with … a foreigner: an Austrian composer and virtuoso musician, who during his lifetime got so little well-deserved popularity. But now his descendants glorify him! Biographical films, dedication songs, famous sweets with marzipan filling … and finally a large-scale musical that has been at the top of popularity for almost 10 years.

And soon, during a tour across Europe, the Mozart Rock Opera will be available for the performance of the original soloists. The organizers promise a show that is practically not inferior to the French original.

Rock MOZART Le Concert

The apogee of burning emotions, rock and drive

Soon a significant event begins – the world tour, which will present a brilliant and amazing concert version of the world famous rock opera – Rock MOZART Le Concert.

You will see the fascinating story of the life, love and death of the great Mozart, who can rightfully be considered the first rock musician in history. He is a real rock star of his era and modernity. A rebel whose fate abounded in ups and downs.

The strength and power of seven amazing voices, the brightness of the protagonist, the fatefulness of his rival, the unusual sound of a large symphony orchestra, grandiose scenery and light show – genius has never been so massive!

Two passions, two loves, charm and eternity … Life is like a crazy rock concert sounding to the thunder of drums. Rock MOZART Le Concert is what everyone should see and hear!

Immerse yourself in the magic of beautiful music and first-class stage play. Music lovers and connoisseurs of vivid spectacles will be amazed by trying this incredible musical cocktail, everyone will certainly want more!

Floran Mothe and Mikelangelo Loconte singing

MOZART L’Opera Rock was visited by millions of viewers, it was the first musical shot in 3D format and received a “diamond” status with more than 800,000 copies sold.

Five years ago, the musical was presented to the European audience by artists of the original composition – of course, not everyone was able to get on it. But in the tour schedule, divided by days, there were other countries and continents: everyone wants to see a miracle with their own eyes. We still have access to the video version of the show, it’s especially lucky for those who have advanced equipment at home, because they can, with the effect of presence, review the first musical in history shot in 3D.

For those who want to hear their favorite arias in live performance, there remains one more opportunity, this is a concert from the best numbers, which tours Europe every year. It is better to buy tickets for the Mozart Rock Opera in advance: although the show goes on for several days, not everyone can get there, the French production is that great.

Mozart of many talents

Wolfgang Amadeus was not just a talent, but a music prodigy – it’s clear that he needed to find an extraordinary personality for the main role in the musical in his honor. Michelangelo Loconte is just one of these types, so he passed the test easily.

An Italian playing an Austrian in a French show is unusual in itself. Now imagine that this guy, in addition to the highest vocal technique and acting skills, boasts achievements in the art of photography, painting and sculpture. On the stage, he keeps himself at ease, since he has been performing on stage since he was 5 years old! Like all theater actors, Michelangelo likes to improvise: to the image of Mozart, he added gestures learned for the role of Peter Pan. The actor is sure that his character remained in the depths of his soul as a child, a little boy behind a harpsichord, all his life’s hardships did not break him!

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE: “Secret’s Safe” on Hometown Sounds

Secret’s Safe

The DC music blog and podcast HOMETOWN SOUNDS premiered my debut music video on their site today.

Here’s what they had to say:

Journalist and frequent We Love DC contributor Rachel Levitin has honed her singer-songwriter chops over the last few years through frequent appearances with Justin Trawick’s We Are The 9 showcase. Her new single “Secret’s Safe” debuted on last week’s episode of Justin’s podcast The Circus Life and released just a couple of days ago on Amazon and iTunes.

Since we are such fans of music videos, Hometown Sounds snagged the opportunity to premiere the music video for “Secret’s Safe”. The song was inspired by a beach trip to Kitty Hawk NC, so director Mike Shubbuck took Rachel and his camera to the beach at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis. Rachel says, “I was at a bachelorette party Saturday night but woke up bright and early at around 3:45 AM to get cleaned up and picked up by Mike before driving to Annapolis. By the time we got there at about 5:45, 15 minutes before the park’s scheduled opening time, there was a line of cars at least 10 deep waiting to get into the park. We were a little shocked by it was one of the last weekends of the summer so that made sense. Once we got through the line, we just started shooting along the shore line with the rising sun behind me. Mike got all the great views as the pinkish-red orb in the sky came up along the blue sky and water line while I was looking at the Bay Bridge or kids playing in the sand. One of my favorite parts of the shoot was that kids who were playing by their parents stopped for a good 15 minutes and listened to me perform the song a few times.”

Rachel Levitin’s debut 7 song EP, produced by Dave Mallen of Innovation Station Music and Metro Music Source, is due for release in early 2015.

Check out their site HERE

Pick The Poster Poll: Velvet Lounge, Oct. 3

rachel levitin

In honor of the October 3 show at Velvet Lounge, we wanted to put the FINAL poster design decision in the hands of the fans! Take a minute to browse the album of options (designed by Lung-I Lo). Then all you need to do is “Like” or comment on your favorite. We’ll tally the votes and print the poster – which will be signed by all the bands – and have them available for sale (in limited quantities) on the 3rd. See you there!

Pink Jams! Tickets On-Sale Now

pinktober

Pink Jams! and the Hard Rock Café are teaming up to kick off Pinktober® and Breast Cancer Awareness month by hosting a live music event targeted towards awareness for under 40 men and women in the Washington, DC area.

TICKETS ON SALE AT: www.PinkJams.org

Headliners: Phillip Phillips and Haley Reinhart from American Idol!

From the evening of September 28th through the afternoon September 30 – we will be playing live music WITHOUT STOPPING. In order to draw attention to an important breast cancer awareness message for men and women under 40 – a wide variety of local, regional, and national musicians will play continuously for 39 hours and 59 minutes.

Click through to see the full schedule for the weekend.

Haley Reinhart, American Idol Friday 7:00pm
Phillip Phillips, American Idol Friday 7:30pm

Driven to Clarity Friday 8:00pm
Gallons to Ounces Friday 8:30pm
Becca Levy Friday 9:00pm
Mike Corrado Friday 9:30pm
HeLO Friday 10:00pm
Brian Franke Friday 10:30pm
Black Dog Prowl Friday 11:00pm
Practically Einstein Friday 11:30pm

Color School Saturday 12:15am – midnight
The Dirty Jacks Saturday 12:45am
Harris Face Saturday 1:15am
Photo Radio Saturday 2:00am
Future Band Saturday 3:00am
ACES and 8s Saturday 4:00am
Johari Saturday 5:00am
Derek Evry Saturday 6:00am
CoolFire featuring B. Blunt Saturday 7:00am
Tanya Dallas-Lewis Saturday 8:00am
Phil Rossi Saturday 8:30am
The Great Unknowns Saturday 9:00am
Grace Bernicker Saturday 9:30am
Phillip Noss Saturday 10:00am
Memphis 59 Saturday 10:45am
Olivia Mancini Saturday 11:30m
MELODIME Saturday 12:00pm – Noon
The Vagabond Union Saturday 1:00pm
Moch Pryderi Saturday 2:00pm
Bravenoise Saturday 2:45pm
Sara Davenport Saturday 3:30pm
Laura Finley with Jackson & Jesse Smith Saturday 4:00pm
Rene Moffatt Saturday 5:00pm
Benny Saturday 5:30pm
Dreamscapes Project Saturday 6:00pm
Matt Tarka Saturday 7:00pm
Andrew Tufano Saturday 7:30pm
Rites of Ash Saturday 8:00pm
The Stolen Camaros Saturday 9:00pm
The Crimestoppers Saturday 10:00pm
the Very Small Saturday 11:00pm

Noise in the Basement Sunday 12am – midnight
Septimius Sunday 1:00am
Burntsystems Sunday 2:00am
Breeze Sunday 3:00am
Chris Aaron Sunday 4:00am
Brittany Jean Sunday 5:00am
Laura Peterson Sunday 6:00am
Rachel Levitin Sunday 7:00am
Harriet Vanderpool Sunday 7:30am
Javier Starks Sunday 8:00am
CD Porter Sunday 9:00am
Shanon Harris Sunday 9:30am
James Britton Sunday 10:00am
Say Chance Sunday 11:00am
Final Raffle Drawing and Hard Rock Check Presentation to City of Hope Sunday 12:00pm – noon

Album Update: All is Well, 2013 Release Imminent

Inside Innovation Station Music

It’s been far too long since I openly spoke about the progress of my new recording project. Now is as good a time as ever to bring it back up though.

The entire process, thus far, has been one of the most rewarding musical experiences I’ve ever had. It’s like being back in school and learning something new every day. Some days I teach myself a new lesson, others my producer Dave Mallen weighs in, and then there’s the occasional scenario out in the real world. No matter what though, I’m learning.

I’ve also learned that I’ve loved every moment of it. Even the moments I’m caught cursing after a flubbed vocal take. In the moment I’m focused and laugh it off in the moment. It’s all in good fun.

I can confidently say that this album is something special. I never considered myself a singer when I started writing songs. I just saw myself as more of a performer and storyteller. There’s a distinct shift with this full-band project in how I present myself musically. This time around I’m a singer who just so happened to help pen the songs being sung. It’s a comfortable stance to take and I’m savoring it.

There’s a projected release for this project of 2013. So you’ve got that to look forward to. In the mean time, I’m going to keep going with the flow and make some music. Thanks for your patience. I promise it’ll be worth the wait!

-Rachel

Behind The “Between Timid & Timbuktu” Session: “A Drop”

Back in high school I wanted to make sure I left a mark. I wanted to make sure that once I left there’d still be a lasting impression of me somewhere on that school. It was senior year in particular that I hit the overdrive button and took creative risks. A lesser known fact is that I actually attempted to assemble a collection of long-form poems with the intent of self-publishing at some point.

Inspiration for the project drew from a life-long love affair with storytelling as well as a poetry class I was taking around that time for English. I was enamored by the prospect of lengthy poems that didn’t necessarily have a rhyme scheme but told stories in a way that reminded me of a cross-bread between short story and song.

If you stop to think about it, song lyrics are lines of poetry. Sometimes those lines rhyme and sometimes they don’t, but that doesn’t matter as long as it flows. The extended length allows for points to be fleshed out while the restrictions of turning prose in poetry enables a bit more romanticism in the lines written.

The poems written for that project were often a page or two long, all single spaced. I was quite meticulous with the red pen when it came down to editing and honing each story too. They were often about love — lost love, unrequited love, new love, and the burdens of being a teenager. All likely topics for a high school girl, right?

One poem from that set in particular really struck a chord with me down the line in college when I was looking for something new to write a song about. The poem — entitled “A Drop” — was a piece I spent a great deal of time crafting to perfection.

Though it never quite got “THERE” as a poem, it made for a nice song. The tone of the text before even being set to music had a melancholy feel to it … much like the work of Damien Rice (“9 Crime” or “Delicate“) or early Coldplay circa their albums Parachutes (“Sparks“) and Rush of Blood to the Head (“The Scientist“)… so setting the text to music only enhanced that feeling and, in my opinion, the context of story.

It’s a song about being vulnerable. It’s a about letting down defenses, being weak in a moment, and being okay with that. And why are you okay? You’ve got someone there by your side if you need. It’s a simple gesture of human kindness set to music.

Now Available: Chicago Acoustic Underground Podcast Episode

Chicago Acoustic Underground Podcast Episode

This past June I spent some time back in my home town of Chicago to play a show, visit with family, and meet the infamous Michael Teach of the Chicago Acoustic Underground podcast. The show has featured hundreds of local and national acts, including American Idol finalist Crystal Bowersox. Michael’s got a great thing going in Chicago in addition to his record label CAU Dog Records, so it was an immense pleasure to spend an afternoon with him recording a podcast for all to hear.

The episode recorded this summer now up at https://chicagoacoustic.net/#/content/podcasts/444-rachel-levitin-1691 so feel free to listen at your leisure!

We Love DC Hates Cancer: Benefit Event in DC

We Love DC Hates Cancer // Help us help one of our own
Read More: http://www.welovedc.com/2012/10/17/we-love-dc-hates-cancer-join-us/

Monday, November 5th at Pound the Hill, 621 Pennsylvania Ave SE, 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.

$4 happy hour (beer, wine, appetizers) all night

$10 suggested donation at the door. Let’s show cancer how powerful we are!

If you cannot attend, please consider donating to Cathy’s cause. Visit Unite Against (http://uniteagainst.net/) to learn more.