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Manly Daily May 8 2014
STEVE MOFFATT
Avital Israeli mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital is wowing audiences in his Australian debut tour with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. Source: Supplied
The mandolin rarely takes the spotlight on stage — a solo here and there in a bluegrass band, a few chords strummed offstage in a Mozart opera, or the subject of a now-obscure early Rod Stewart rock song.
But 36-year-old Israeli virtuoso Avi Avital is taking this engaging eight-string instrument to new heights, playing both the established Baroque repertoire and finding new material.
Here on his first visit to Australia, Avital has been universally acclaimed for his performances and recordings, both for his technical prowess and for his passion and sensitivity.
|This tour with Paul Dyer and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra highlights his versatility and holistic approach. The first half belonged to the mandolin staples of Vivaldi and J.S. Bach, the second branched out into the more colourful and visceral area of where classical music meets folk.
It was here in Avital’s arrangements of Manuel de Falla’s Danse espagnole and Bela Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances that we got an idea of the breadth of this artist’s musical vision.
Here was plenty of fire and guts. Avital’s extraordinary control over this modest instrument — smooth tremolo with the plectrum and deft, faultless fingering — left no one in doubt that he is a musical force to be reckoned with.
By the time we got to the encore — a Bulgarian dance with a quirky rhythm — the audience were baying for more.
Dyer and his stripped back band, who are celebrating their silver anniversary, were in
good form. Violinists Matt Bruce, Ben Dollman, Catherine Shugg and Skye McIntosh performed pleasantly in Vivaldi’s popular concerto for four violins and Avital joined Dyer, cellist Jamie Hey and Tommy Anderssen on theorbo for a lovely arrangement of Bach’s flute sonata in E minor.
As for Avital’s handling of the Vivaldi D major mandolin concerto, coupled with an adaptation of Bach’s A minor violi concerto, it’s impossible to imagine anyone equalling it, let alone improving on it.
The concert is repeated at City Recital Hall Angel Place on Friday, May 9; Saturday, May 10; Wednesday, May 14, and Friday, May 16, all at 7pm, and on Saturday, May 10, at 2pm.
DETAILS:
CONCERT: Australian Brandenburg Orchestra with Avi Avital
WHERE: City Recital Hall
WHEN: Wednesday,
May 7
