Vivaldi - Avi Avital

5/5

Review:

Hugely enjoyable 

This is a cracking, hugely enjoyable disc. Avi Avital is a superb musician and he has produced a really fine programme here.

The music is terrific. There is Vivaldi's mandolin concerto of course, and transcriptions by Avital of four violin concerti (including Summer from The Four Seasons) and two very fine stand-alone movements. The whole thing is a delight; the mandolin gives a lovely fresh feel to these works and even re-invigorates "Summer," which is quite some achievement. The music lends itself very well to the mandolin especially in the quicker movements of course, but Avital's technique is such that he makes even the expressive slow movements sound as if hey were written for the instrument.

It is the playing of Avital which really makes this special. He is an amazing virtuoso who can make light of the technical challenges here so that everything sounds natural with no sense anywhere of strain or rush. He also manages to produce sufficiently sustained notes to allow the music to speak as it should. The mandolin simply doesn't have the expressive properties of the violin, but Avital makes it speak beautifully in its own voice here. His fellow musicians (including terrific appearances by Mahan Esfahani and Juan Diego Flórez) are excellent and the whole thing is delightful.

Even if you are thoroughly jaded with Vivaldi I would recommend giving this a try. It's full of terrific music making and is immensely enjoyable throughout. Very warmly recommended.