This was a marvelous, exuberant concert by the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra as led by Paul Dyer AO and featuring the Israeli superstar of the mandolin Avi Avital who dazzled in a bravura performance .

Dyer emphatically led from the keyboard of his harpsichord. The Orchestra, for this concert trimmed to ten players, was in golden form, giving a performance which featured some lush, delicate playing and some finely nuanced phrasing.

The stage was very atmospheric, decorated with candles and hung with large, luminous stained glass lanterns, suggestive of a Baroque lounge room.

Guest artist Avi Avital was in amazing form, and through the concert had a great rapport with the Orchestra.

Thin, lithe, of medium height, he was almost feline at times, cradling his mandolin tenderly, sometimes lifting the mandolin high in acknowledgement of the audience applause. Immersed in the music, he swayed and emphasized a particular beat/entrance at various points. He played his mandolin seated on an orchestral stool, and his entire performance was played from memory.

First on the program was Vivaldi’s Concerto for Strings in C major, RV 110 which saw the concert take off to a brisk, dynamic start. The largo was slower and passionately lamenting, and the allegro was joyous and exuberant.

Vivaldi’s Concerto in A minor, RV 356 featured compelling playing by Avitar.  His fingers flew in a dazzling virtuoso display, especially in the first Allegro movement. The Largo was a slower, eloquent lament , the third ( presto ) brisk and dynamic, and finely nuanced and articulated.

The next piece was Valentini’s Concerto Grosso In A Minor, Op. 7, No. 11, an Australian premiere, that opened with haunting strings in a somewhat languid melody. The second Allegro movement had repeated circular rhythms as led by Shaun Lee- Chen. It was full of a delicate intensity. The melody was stated, then more instruments joined in – eventually the full ensemble – then the piece faded out and was then returned. Chen then led the fourth Allegro movement in a breathless violin solo, the cello and violins eventually joining in a furious discussion that led to a dizzying conclusion.

Tsintsadze‘s Six Miniatures were given a scintillating performance ranging from fiery and passionate to lyrical and romantic, and featured, at one point, a blinding fast solo from Avital. This piece, which ended with resounding applause, took the audience to interval.

The concert resumed with Vivaldi’s  Mandolin Concerto in C major, RV 425 which began with a delicate, buoyant touch and featured another bravura performance by Avital, playing in duet with cellist Jamie Hey. The ABO’s velvety pizzicato accompaniment allowed us to focus on Avital’s filigree yet fiendishly difficult and intricate solos .The Largo was an aching lament which the Allegro briskly executed, leading again to much rapturous, prolonged applause.

Before performing Neapolitan composer Giovanni Paisiello’s E-flat major mandolin concerto, Avital conversed with the audience, explaining the difference between Venetian and Neapolitan aesthetics, and how this work was a good example of the latter aesthetics. .

Paisello’s Mandolin Concerto in E-Flat Major opened brightly and animatedly with an almost cool, jazz like tone. The Largo was passionately lamenting , and Avital’s playing was again  charismatic and dazzling. The third Allegretto movement was boisterous and spirited.

Vivaldi’s Concerto in G minor, RV 315,( the summer section of his classic The Four Seasons ) was given a vibrant, pulsating rendition.

There was prolonged ,thunderous applause and cheering at the end of the program.

Two encores were performed – a largo RV 443 from a Vivaldi concerto originally for Recorder and Strings and  a Bulgarian folk tune called Bucimis.

More entranced cheers, and a standing ovation before the concert concluded and the stampede for the queue began with many choosing to buy the CD on sale with the maestro mandolin player on hand to add his autograph.

The Program-

VIVALDI Concerto for Strings in C major, RV 110
VIVALDI Concerto in A minor, RV 356
VALENTINI Concerto Grosso In A Minor, Op. 7, No. 11
vi Six miniatures on Georgian Folk Themes for Mandolin and Strings
VIVALDI Mandolin Concerto in C major, RV 425
PAISIELLO Mandolin Concerto in E-Flat Major
VIVALDI Concerto in G minor, RV 315, Summer

Running Time – Two hours with one interval.
The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra with Avi Avital is playing the City Recital Hall between 26 October and 4 November.