Ambassador for his instrument pulls out all the stops to entertain the Sydney crowd.

City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney

May 7, 2014

Israeli-born Avi Avital is the latest high profile international musician to grace the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s 25th birthday year and surprisingly turns out to be the first time that they have presented a mandolin virtuoso. Having spent a very pleasant half an hour in Mr Avital’s company last Monday, I was looking forward to hearing him put into music the ideas that he communicated so eloquently in conversation. He didn’t disappoint.

The 34-year-old man with a mission – for his music and his instrument – presented a range of work from one of Vivaldi’s delightful lute concertos to a couple of pieces by Bach: a violin concerto and one of his flute sonatas. In the second half, he took us beyond the Baroque with an excursion into the 20th century via Bartók and De Falla. All of these works were arrangements, but you wouldn’t know it, so skilfully were they chosen to present the mandolin’s unique musical voice.

The first thing that strikes you about Avi Avital is his energy. A Byronic figure in black velvet...