Art of the Mandolin (2020)

performed by Alon Sariel (mandolin), Anneleen Lenaerts (harp), Avi Avital (mandolin), Ophira Zakaï (theorbo), Patrick Sepec (cello), Sean Shibe (guitar), Yizhar Karshon (harpsichord), Venice Baroque Orchestra
composed by Antonio Vivaldi, David Bruce, Domenico Scarlatti, Giovanni Sollima, Hans Werner Henze, Ludwig van Beethoven, Paul Ben-Haim

Mandolinist Avi Avital has put together several impressive albums of music by combining works of Vivaldi and Beethoven, composers who actually did write for the mandolin occasionally, with intelligently chosen transcriptions. Here, for the first time, he offers a program of music entirely, at least theoretically, written for the mandolin. The evidence for Scarlatti's Sonata in D minor, K. 89, having been written for mandolin and continuo rather than harpsichord, is purely musical, not in the least documentary, but whatever ... Read More

Mandolinist Avi Avital has put together several impressive albums of music by combining works of Vivaldi and Beethoven, composers who actually did write for the mandolin occasionally, with intelligently chosen transcriptions. Here, for the first time, he offers a program of music entirely, at least theoretically, written for the mandolin. The evidence for Scarlatti's Sonata in D minor, K. 89, having been written for mandolin and continuo rather than harpsichord, is purely musical, not in the least documentary, but whatever the actual case, it fits into the program very well. Vivaldi and Beethoven are present, but most of the program is given over to works that combine the mandolin with other plucked strings, different in each case. It joins the harp, harpsichord, theorbo, and guitar for a kind of plucked wall of sound in David Bruce's Death Is a Friend of Ours. Paul Ben-Haim and Hans Werner Henze explore, respectively, the sonorities of mandolin, guitar, and harpsichord, and mandolin, guitar, and harp.... Read Less