Csárdás by Vittorio Monti - David Garrett performing at Hannover Concert on May 21, 2009.

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David Garrett was born as David Bongartz in Aachen, Germany to an American mother and a German father.
When Garrett was four years old, his father bought a violin for his older brother. The young Garrett took an interest and soon learned to play. A year later, he took part in a competition and won first prize. By the age of seven, he was playing once a week in public. He studied violin at the Lubeck Conservatoire. At the age of 12, Garrett began working with the distinguished Polish violinist Ida Haendel, often traveling to London and other European cities to meet her.
At the age of 13, Garrett recorded two CDs, appeared on German and Dutch television, and gave a concert in the residence of the Federal Republic of Germany President, the Villa Hammerschmidt, at Dr. von Weizsäckers personal invitation. He was offered the use of the famous Stradivarius "San Lorenzo", which is among the best instruments of the "golden period". At the age of 14, as the youngest soloist ever, Garrett signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Aged 17, he played with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Zubin Mehta in Delhi and Mumbai in concerts marking the 50th anniversary of Indias Independence.
Two years later, Garrett played with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester in Berlin, under the direction of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and was hailed by critics. This led to an invitation to perform at Expo 2000 in Hannover. He continued his studies at the Royal College of Music in London. At the age of 21, he was invited to perform at the BBC Proms. He graduated from the Juilliard School in 2004.
While studying at the Juilliard School in New York City, as one of the first students to study with Itzhak Perlman, Garrett supplemented his income by working as a model. Some fashion writers have described him as "the David Beckham of the classical scene".

Garrett's release of "Encore" at DECCA pursues an aim of arousing young peoples interest in classical music. The release contains arrangements and compositions of his own of pieces and melodies that have accompanied him in his life so far.
Together with his band, consisting of keyboard, guitar and drums, he gives concerts that include classical sonatas (accompanied by a concert grand piano), arrangements, and compositions, as well as Nothing Else Matters by Metallica.
In Autumn 2007, Garrett was chosen by the Montegrappa firm (whose articles are distributed by Montblanc throughout the world) as an ambassador for the launch of the new pens from the "Tributo ad Antonio Stradivari" collection. The event will take place in several different venues, including Rome, New York, Hong Kong, Berlin, and London. On this occasion, Garrett has been offered a Stradivarius from the Gli Archi di Pallazzo Comunale collection.
Garrett also joined the 9th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers.

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Csárdás (or Czardas) is the only famous work of Vittorio Monti. A rhapsodical concert piece written in 1904, it is a well-known folk piece based on a Hungarian Czardas. It was originally composed for violin, mandolin or piano. Nowadays, it is usually played on the violin, but can also be played as a piano solo, on the accordion, or as an orchestral arrangement. The duration of the piece is about four and a half minutes.

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Csárdás is a traditional Hungarian folk dance, the name derived from csárda (old Hungarian term for tavern). It originated in Hungary and was popularized by Roma music (Cigány) bands in Hungary and neighboring lands of Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Burgenland, Croatia, Carpathian Ruthenia, Transylvania and Moravia, as well as among the Banat Bulgarians, including those in Bulgaria.

The origin of the Csárdás can be traced back to the 18th century Hungarian verbunkos, used as a recruiting dance by the Hungarian army.
The Csárdás is characterized by a variation in tempo: it starts out slowly (lassú) and ends in a very fast tempo (friss, literally "fresh"). There are other tempo variations, called ritka csárdás, sűrű csárdás and szökős csárdás. The music is in 2/4 or 4/4 time. The dancers are both male and female, with the women dressed in traditional wide skirts, usually colored red, which form a distinctive shape when they whirl.
Classical composers who have used csárdás themes in their works include Emmerich Kálmán, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Johann Strauss, Pablo de Sarasate, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and others. Probably the best-known csárdás is the composition by Vittorio Monti written for violin and piano. This virtuosic piece has 7 tempo variations.
(from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

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