Avi Avital: Between Worlds
Introduction
“Feeling at home in places that seem foreign, even discovering parts of yourself in them, is a deeply moving idea for me. This is the heart of the Between Worlds project.” — AVI AVITAL
Mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital leads his Between Worlds Ensemble (BWE), which challenges the boundaries between classical and folk music.
Each project of BWE is dedicated to a geographical region - the Iberian Peninsula, the south of Italy, the Black Sea - and paints a rich musical portrait of that region in bright colours and detailed nuances. Classical composers from each region are played side by side with traditional music that often inspired their work, performed together with renowned folk vocalists and instrumentalists as guest artists.
The BWE comprises ten international musicians, whose diverse background and remarkable versatility and curiosity let them venture out of the familiar classical sphere to the rhythms and textures of folk traditions.
In creative collaborations with their guest artists, the Ensemble highlights the captivating quality of folk performers as living legacies of ancient art forms. Through classical compositions, elaborate arrangements, and traditional performance, they re-articulate together the particular musical dialect that defines a local region and simultaneously open its borders, investigate its influences, and marvel at its fluidity and reach.The outcome is a celebration of musical variety: old and new, classical and traditional, local and universal.
Programme
Between Worlds | Iberia
Between Worlds Ensemble Marina Heredia - Flamenco singer José Quevedo El Bolita – Flamenco guitar Paquito Gonzalez – Percussions Programme: Isaac Albéniz · Suite española No.1, Op.47 / Sevilla Manuel de Falla · Piezas Españolas / Andaluza Trad. Flamenco · El Uvero Manuel de Falla · El amor brujo / Canción del amor dolido Trad. Flamenco · Malagueña con Fandango del Albaicin Enrique Granados · Danzas españolas / Oriental Manuel de Falla · El amor brujo / Danza del Juego del amor, Canción del fuego fauto *** Manuel de Falla · La vida breve / Danse espagnole Trad. Flamenco · En los brazos de mi madre Trad. Flamenco · Bulerias Trad. Sephardic · Five Ladino Songs Trad. Flamenco · Alegras Federico García Lorca · Canciones españolas antiguas / Zorongo Avi Avital and the Between Worlds Ensemble collaborate with renowned flamenco cantaora Marina Heredia to create an enticing musical portrait of the Iberian Peninsula. Heredia’s passionate flamenco singing, together with guest flamenco guitarist and percussionist, weaves in and out of works by de Falla, Albéniz, Granados and Lorca — pieces that were conceived through the integration of folklore and classical composition styles. By playing with different genres, traditions, and performance cultures, the Between Worlds Ensemble sheds new light on these pieces, offering their own fascinating interpretation of the composers' perspectives on musical intersections. The Ladino lamentations of the Sephardic Jewish community sweep Avital and Heredia into an intimate musical dialogue of roots and cultures, adding another historic layer to the fiery, soulful journey to Iberia. [SEE TRAILER IN "MEDIA]
Between Worlds | Black Sea
Between Worlds Ensemble Rustavi Choir (10 singers) Programme: Trad. Georgian Imeruli Naduri David Bruce Cut the Rug Trad. Georgian Romelni Querubinta Anzor Erkomaishvili Tu Ase Turpa Ikavi Béla Bartók Mikrokosmos No. 113, 128 & 153 Trad. Crimean Tatar Medley of traditional melodies *** Fazil Say Black Earth Trad. Turkish Naciye Naciye Sulkhan Tsintsadze Mstkhemsuri (Shepherd’s Dance) Trad. Georgian Khasanbegura Josef Bardanashvili Prayers Trad. Klezmer Odessa Klezmer Suite Otar Taktakishvili Five Mingrelian Songs A major crossroads since ancient times, the area known as the Black Sea has produced a fascinating range of musical styles that make it a natural focal point for the Between Worlds Ensemble. Bordering present-day Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, and Georgia, the Black Sea represents both cultural exchange and dramatic oppositions and contrasts. The tension between local and multi-ethnic identities echoes in the diverse music of the region. Béla Bartók’s trademark synthesis of progressive classical music and traditional folk is represented here through an insightful new arrangement of three movements from his “Mikrokosmos”, alongside contemporary classical composers from the region, Traditional Crimean Tatar music, Turkish folk melodies and Klezmer with an Odessan stamp—all originate from the teeming mixture of Black Sea cultures. With a special collaboration with the internationally acclaimed Rustavi traditional men’s choir from Georgia, the Between Worlds Ensemble creates an electrifying musical experience that showcases the bursting life force and unique musical universe of this complex and colourful region. [SEE TRAILER IN "MEDIA]
Between Worlds | Italy
Between Worlds Ensemble Alessia Tondo, Singer Luca Tarantino, Guitar, Theorbo Programme: Trad. Pugliese Aria de li traineiri Trad. Pugliese Tarantella di Sannicandro Emanuele Barbella Duetto Igor Stravinsky Suite Italienne / Serenata,Tarantella Trad. Pugliese Pizzica di Aradeo Giuseppe Torelli Concerto grosso in G minor, Op.8 No. Trad. Pugliese Na na na Giovanni Sollima Viaggio in Italia / Federico II *** Emanuele Barbella Mandolin Concerto in D Trad. Greek / Papanas Greek Folk Songs Nicola Segatta Il mare colore del vino Trad. Pugliese Pizzica di Galatone Trad. Pugliese Tarantella del Gargano Trad. Sicilian Virrinedda Trad. Greek / Raiko Sousamoglou Trad. Pugliese Beddah ci Dormi The range of sensibilities, nuances, and influences that have shaped local cultures up and down the Apennine Peninsula is vast, and its folklore is rich and memorable. The Between Worlds Ensemble lands in the south of Italy to explore it and its surrounding musical cultures, in their historical and contemporary significance, from traditional folk, through Neapolitan Baroque and into the present. Guest singer Alessia Tondo is a leading exponent of folk music and a native of the Apulia region. We will find here the wild Tarantella dance associated in the popular imagination with the aftermath of a venomous spider’s bite, as well as variants on the Pizzica, a folk dance that emerged from Salento at the southernmost tip of Apulia. In curated arrangements of traditional Greek songs, we explore the ancient influences between Greece and the south of Italy, still preserved in the spoken Griko dialect. In his “Viaggio in Italia” (“Journey in Italy”), Sicilian composer Giovanni Sollima creates an eclectic composition that ranges from the Middle Ages to progressive rock, honouring iconic figures from Italian art, literature, and music. Connecting the dots is Avital’s mandolin. This instrument, synonymous with Italian folklore, has turned in his hands into a classical concert instrument that expresses any and all genres of music, and plays a special role in this programme. [SEE TRAILER IN "MEDIA]
Between Worlds | Journey (all-instrumental)
Between World Ensemble Programme: David Bruce Cut the Rug Enrique Granados Danzas españolas / Oriental Manuel de Falla Cuatro Piezas Españolas / Andaluza Trad. Crimean Tatar Medley of traditional melodies *** Isaac Albéniz Suite española No.1, Op.47 / Sevilla Giovanni Sollima Viaggio in Italia / Federico II Fazil Say Black Earth Trad. Turkish Naciye Naciye Béla Bartók from Mikrokosmos SZ 107 Trad. Klezmer Odessa Klezmer Suite On its all-instrumental program, the Between Worlds Ensemble showcases its own musicians, spotlighting their top-tier chamber music making and the radical versatility of each individual player. The Journey gathers select instrumental pieces from the Ensemble’s triptych—’Iberia,’ ‘Black Sea,’ and ‘Italy’, offering centre stage to the uniquely crafted arrangements of the Ensemble’s composers collaborators: Jonathan Keren, Efrain Oscher, Lev Zhurbin, and David Bruce. Bruce is also the composer of the centrepiece of this program: the four-movement, ‘Cut the Rug,’ which most accurately represents the multi-layered musical and cultural exploration of our group. [SEE TRAILER IN "MEDIA]
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