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Archive for the ‘Manuel de Falla’ Category

Avi Avital and MILOŠ (Richardson Auditorium, Princeton, NJ, November 16, 2021)

Posted in Avi Avital, Isaac Albeniz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Manuel de Falla, Mathias Duplessy, Miloš, Philip Glass, Princeton, NJ, Richardson Auditorium, Set in New Jersey! on November 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 13, 2016] Avi Avital and MILOŠ

Five years ago, S. and I went to see Avi Avital at a tiny theater on the Princeton University campus.  And now, here he was returning, but this time with a partner!  MILOŠ, an incredible guitarist whom I’d also learned about through a Tiny Desk Concert.

Israeli musician Avi Avital has taken the mandolin to new heights, earning a GRAMMY nomination as the first mandolin soloist in history…. He returns to Princeton University Concerts joined by an exciting PUC debut: Montenegrin phenomenon MILOŠ, who is described as “the hottest guitarist in the world” and renowned for his deeply emotive playing. Together, they bring us a kaleidoscopic program of arrangements and transcriptions for mandolin and guitar.   “POD SEATING” — Patrons will be seated on stage only with members of their party, as determined by the ticket quantity in your order.

So we could see these two terrific musicians and be right on the stage with them? Sign me up!

S. and I both went and we were maybe twenty feet from the musicians.  They were charming and funny as they introduced themselves and each other and then they blew us away with their amazing finger and fret work.

They played a truly wide ranging repertoire and explained the origins and context of each song.  Who would have guessed that Bach and Philip Glass could work together so well? (more…)

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Avi Avital (Berlind Theatre, Princeton, NJ, March 13, 2016)

Posted in Avi Avital, Béla Bartók, Berlind Theatre, Ernest Bloch, Fritz Kresiler, Funny (ha ha), Heitor Villa-Lobos, Itamar Doari, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ksenija Sidorova, Manuel de Falla, Nikolai Budaskhin, Princeton, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Sulkhan Tsintsade on March 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 13, 2016] Avi Avital

aviA few months ago I wrote about Avi Avtal’s Tiny Desk concert.  I had never heard of him, but his mandolin playing was amazing.  And then about three days later I saw that he was going to be playing in Princeton.  Well, I immediately got tickets.

And today we saw him and he was even more amazing in person.

In the Tiny Desk show, he played solo.  But in this show (and tour) he played with two people accompanying him: Ksenija Sidorova on accordion and Itamar Doari on percussion.

The only complaint I had about the show was that there was no progamme, so I had to look up everything online to know what we had just seen.  Fortunately I was able to find a setlist, because I never would have remembered what he told us.

Anyhow, in this show, titled Between Worlds Avital and company explore the borders between folk and classical music.  What that means is that they play music from classical composers, but also some very traditional folks songs from around the world.

Mandolin doesn’t seem like the instrument of choice for classical music, but Avital, who has been playing since he was little is amazing at the instrument–playing incredibly fast and clear and managing all of those Bach notes like nobody’s business. (more…)

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