Above : Early Music specialist and keyboard player Erin Helyard joined Avi Avital for this concert, playing harpsichord. Featured image: Mandolin soloist Avi Avital.
A concert from the world renowned and much awarded mandolinist Avi Avital is always a delightfully varied and eclectic experience. This Deutsche Grammaphon recording artist excels at promoting his instrument by dazzling audiences and listeners with performances of both Baroque music and World Music alike.
Avital played music intended originally for his instrument as well as works from the Baroque masters which succeeded in excellent arrangement.
This concert tour was to be quite a heavy salute to traditional and world musics from around the globe, in collaboration with cellist and composer Giovanni Sollima.
A Covid-19 isolation prevented Sollima from joining Avi Avital in Sydney for this Sydney Musica Viva concert. Harpsichordist Erin Helyard stepped in to fill the void. The resulting concert programme bristled with Baroque energy, with sonatas and trio sonatas by Scarlatti, Vivaldi and JS Bach.
As well as very excellent transciptions for the mandolin from the original scores for violin and harpsichord (JS Bach), violin, lute and continuo (Vivaldi), there was music originally written for mandolin and continuo, namely the Scarlatti Sonata in D minor (K.90).
This nicely put together programme came complete with engaging and interesting commentary from Avital. Brief intros placed the style of the music clearly in geographical and historical perspective for us. Avital eased us beautifully into each work with his informed and enthusiastic introductions.
In between some of the ensemble pieces delivered elegantly by the duo were some works with World Music leanings played on mandolin alone.
In the absence of Sollima’s cello, we heard a progressive and effective prelude written by the cellist-composer. This freeform style piece was a decent showcase for the mandolin, with estatic strumming and modern plucking and fingering techniques creating nice timbres.
Above: Avi Avital. Image: supplied- aviavital.com
Apart from the special blend of mandolin and harpsichord in the range of Baroque works we were treated to, a true highlight of this concert was some delicate playing from Avital’s mandolin on the very soft end of the spectrum of nuance. It was enthralling to see the instrument deliver such gentle extremes, making us strain to catch it.
At all times the ensemble playing was dazzling in its original or arranged gesture and virtuosic in its level of intimacy. Such fine ensemble work was both a pleasure to watch and consistent with the high standard of Musica Viva concerts in 2022.
Bach’s sonata for violin and harpsichord in G major (BWV1019) was heard in effective transcription here. It was rewarding to hear the filigree originally written for violin so well transported to the mandolin and played so well by this superstar exponent of the instrument. Erin Helyard’s finely shaped keyboard gestures and exciting articulation in the extended harpsichord solo moments were inspired here also.
The second solo mandolin break after this work had a Bulgarian flavour, as Avi shared some music absorbed backstage at a World Music Festival, taught to him by a Bulgarian accordianist. This ‘play it forward’ experience resulted in a stunning interlude, with more fiery strumming and fingers flying across the frets.
There was of course a hearty ovation for Avital, a favourite in this country anongst a number of fan bases. His return this time also gifted us a fantastic encore of a Sonatina by Beethoven (from the WoO w3-44) written for the mandolin and Klavier.
Avital also supplied us with a charming anecdote about the attraction of Beethoven to the mandolin and especially to a female virtuoso he dedicated it to. This was in the midst of an obvious crush on the woman and the flexible sonic possibilities of this instrument . The encore ended this celebration of the instrument, of chamber music and especially of live performance surviving continued restrictions of the pandemic. We were offered a safe and stunning strain of a replacement concert here.
