'Beckham of Classical Music' Is Hit on Charts, With Ladies

He covers Michael Jackson songs, and considers Mozart and Metallica equally influential—David Garrett is not your average classically trained violinist, but perhaps that’s why his self-titled debut has sat atop the classical crossover charts for three weeks. The German-born 28-year-old—who modeled on the side during his time at Juilliard—has been called the “David Beckham of classical music,” CNN reports—and he’s fast, too.

Garrett recently set a world record by playing 13 notes per second on his nearly 300-year-old Stradivarius. As for comparisons to Beckham, Garrett has a theory: “He kind of drew a new audience to football, OK mostly female, but that’s not a bad thing. I think that’s why people actually say that because they know I really try very hard to get new audiences for classical music.” (More David Garrett stories.)