Notes and Editorial Reviews
Recognized by the New York Times for his “exquisitely sensitive playing” and “stunning agility”, Grammy®-nominated mandolinist Avi Avital is one of the most exciting young musicians on today’s scene — deeply committed to building a fresh legacy for the mandolin through virtuosic performance and refreshing new repertoire.
Israeli-born Avi Avital has won many competitions and received awards including Germany’s Echo Award — and is the first mandolin player to receive a classical Grammy® nomination for “Best Instrumental Soloist Performance” in 2010.
Avital’s debut Deutsche Grammophon recording is an all-Bach album — including transcriptions of concertos for harpsichord and violin in arrangements for
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mandolin and orchestra — with Kammerakademie Potsdam.
“Avital has the gift of transforming the seemingly impossible into reality. His magical fingers arrange, shape, and twist the melodious phrases so evocatively that they take on a vocal quality, sounding even more vibrant than the music many violinists or cellists coax from their instruments.” (Jesko Schulze-Reimpell, Donaukurier)
“Avital’s playing, which can be defined as ‘everything you never dreamt a mandolin could do’, was truly breathtaking in virtuosity and dedication.” (Noam Ben Ze’ev, Haaretz Daily)
R E V I E W S:
Vivaldi wrote concertos to feature the mandolin — an Italian instrument, after all — but J.S. Bach did not. Bach’s music is famously malleable when it comes to instrumentation, though, and young Israeli mandolin ace Avi Avital has transcribed for his instrument three of the composer’s concertos for violin and oboe: BWV 1041, 1052 and 1056. In their more familiar guises for such cantabile instruments, these concertos sing, gloriously. With the mandolin’s quick decay — and its lack of ornamental resource compared to the harpsichord, a more usual alternate instrument — it would seem like the soul of this music would go missing. Some is lost in translation, true, but Avital’s virtuosity and imagination are considerable; in his hands, the light, quicksilver tone of the mandolin acts like a dash of Mediterranean sun, making the concertos more ebullient, feathery. A poor soloist-ripieno balance would ruin things, but the modern strings and period continuo of the Kammerakademie Potsdam are vivid without drowning out Avital’s restrained instrument, even if the mandolin should be a touch higher in the mix. Not just for that reason, the album’s highlight is a transcription of Bach’s Flute Sonata BWV 1034; over a bed of theorbo and cello, Avital’s mandolin paints a pointillist rainbow, unlikely and all the more lovely for it.
– Bradley Bambarger, Listen Magazine [Summer 2012]
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Works on This Recording
1.
Concerto for Harpsichord in D minor, BWV 1052 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:
Avi Avital (Mandolin),
Shalev Ad-El (Harpsichord)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Potsdam Chamber Academy
Period: Baroque
Written: circa 1738-1739; Leipzig, Germany
2.
Concerto for Harpsichord in F minor, BWV 1056 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:
Avi Avital (Mandolin),
Shalev Ad-El (Harpsichord)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Potsdam Chamber Academy
Period: Baroque
Written: circa 1738-1739; Leipzig, Germany
3.
Concerto for Violin no 1 in A minor, BWV 1041 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:
Avi Avital (Mandolin),
Shalev Ad-El (Harpsichord)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Potsdam Chamber Academy
Period: Baroque
Written: 1717-1723; Cöthen, Germany
4.
Sonata for Flute and Basso Continuo in E minor, BWV 1034 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:
Avi Avital (Mandolin),
Ophira Zakai (Theorbo),
Ira Givol (Cello),
Shalev Ad-El (Harpsichord)
Period: Baroque
Written: circa 1717-1720; ?Cöthen, Germany
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 6 Customer Reviews )
mandolin magic January 19, 2013
By Xenia T. (Montgomery Village, MD) See All My Reviews
"A wonderful introduction to the possibilities of the mandolin. Touching and novel rendition of familiar Bach favorites."
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Absolutely fabulous September 8, 2012
By Deborah A. (Bucyrus, OH) See All My Reviews
"I am so in love with this disc. It is my new favourite, I play it constantly, I'm addicted, I carry it with me to play on any occasion, home - car- work. It's a joyous moment in time. I've enjoyed these pieces forever anyway but the artist has brought a new high to the enjoyment. Rave on! More!"
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Simply Outstanding!! August 3, 2012
By W. Brown (Centerburg, OH) See All My Reviews
"This is a recording that should be in every Classical Music cd collection. The music arranged for mandolin is simply outstanding!! Avi Avital is a young musician whose playing goes beyond description. I look forward to more recordings from this fine young musician."
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