Vienna Mandolin Stories
PTC5187364 (Pentatone Classics, CD)
FIRST RELEASE (9 May 2025)
Tracks: 16
Booklet pages: 10
℗ 2025 Pentatone Classics
© 2025 Pentatone Classics
Main country of recording: Germany
Received: 3 April 2025
This item is available to review
Alon Sariel, mandolin
Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Willens
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
1 Andante for Flute and Orchestra, K 315 (Arranged by A Sariel for mandolin and orchestra)
Ernest Krähmer (1795-1837):
Larghetto and Rondo for Mandolin and Orchestra (first recording)
2 Larghetto. Adagio
3 Rondo. Allegro moderato
Alon Sariel (born 1986):
'Haydn's Mandolin Concerto' in C major
4 Moderato (after J Haydn: Cello Concerto No 1 in C, Hob VIIb:1)
5 Adagio (after J Haydn: Violin Concerto in C, Hob VIIa:1)
6 Rondo Allegretto (after Ignaz Malzat: Oboe Concerto in C, mistakenly attributed to Haydn, Hob VIIg:C1)
Ernest Krähmer:
7 Andantino for Mandolin and Orchestra (first recording)
Theme and Variations for Mandolin and Orchestra (first recording)
8 Theme. Allegretto
9 Var I
10 Var II
11 Var III
12 Var IV
13 Var V
Giovanni Paisiello (1741-1816):
Mandolin Concerto in C
14 Tempo giusto
15 Larghetto alla Siciliana
16 Allegro
Music by Haydn, Mozart, Krähmer and Paisiello, with some pieces adapted by Alon Sariel.
Vienna Mandolin Stories is Alon Sariel's first full concerto album, inviting listeners on a journey through late 18th- and early 19th-century Vienna. The album features works for mandolin and orchestra by Haydn, Mozart, Krähmer and Paisiello. While some pieces were originally composed for mandolin, others have been skillfully adapted by Sariel. The album thrives on Sariel's inventive and playful approach, as represented in 'Haydn's Mandolin Concerto', an imaginative rearrangement combining movements from different concertos, including one by Malzat long misattributed to Haydn. Highlights also include the 'bluegrass' cadence in the slow movement of the 'Haydn' concerto and the clever nod to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier in Sariel's arrangement of Mozart's Andante for Flute and Orchestra. Sariel brings to light Ernest Krähmer's works for mandolin and orchestra, recently found at the Bavarian State Library and recorded here for the first time. The period musicians of the Kölner Akademie, under the direction of Michael Alexander Willens, deliver an ideal soundscape for these vibrant and colourful works.
Recorded 8-10 May 2024 at Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal, Köln, Germany.