The titular "
Iconic
" nature of the program here is twofold. First, stardom-groomed violinist
David Garrett
pays tribute to violin icons of the past. Primary among them is
Fritz Kreisler
, who is represented several times on the program, including by the familiar
Schoen Rosmarin
(which is not among the bonus tracks for those who purchase the deluxe physical edition but is an additional bonus track available to streaming listeners). One of the icons,
Itzhak Perlman
, even makes a personal appearance in a
Shostakovich
duet, and other guests include tenor
Andrea Bocelli
and the single-named flutist
Cocomi
. What
Garrett
calls the second thread of his program deals not with performers but with music; what he has put together here is an example of the classic program of encores. He has done his job well, arranging a lot of the music for himself and changing up the sentimental tunes that can sink a project like this if too relentless with more unusual fare (
Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair
) and upbeat numbers like
Dinicu
's
Hora Staccato
and a reminder of his earlier virtuoso ways with
Paganini
Moto Perpetuo, Op. 11
. The end result is an entertaining example of the venerable all-encore genre, marred only by oddly too-close studio sound from
Deutsche Grammophon
. ~ James Manheim