Avi Avital: Mandolin as his mission | Portrait of the world-renowned Israeli mandolinist

Avi Avital is one of the world's most sought-after mandolin virtuoso; his repertoire ranges from works of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods, through to genres such as folk music and jazz. Alongside that, Avital has gained acclaim for his reviving of forgotten mandolin pieces, and countless arrangements of other music for mandolin. He likes to view himself as an ambassador for the plucked string instrument, which traces its origins to Italy. Avi Avital was the first solo mandolinist to ever be nominated for a classical Grammy.
In this portrait, DW Classical Music meets the Israeli mandolinist in Berlin's Museum of Musical Instruments. In front of display cases brimming with fascinating stringed instruments, Avi Avital tells us how he came to the mandolin and what makes this compact, versatile instrument truly special. The virtuoso mandolinist also treats us to a few pieces from his wide-ranging repertoire, performed exclusively for this video. By the end we've arrived at not only a portrait of Avi Avital, but also of the mandolin itself.
Fun aside: Avi Avital - who typically performs his mandolin concerts in sold-out venues all over the world - can be seen in this video playing on a Berlin bridge. It's a spot where otherwise only street musicians are out playing; here he becomes a street musician himself, dutifully collecting a few coins for his playing.
At a glance:
(00:00) Omer Avital, Maroc (music excerpt)
(00:08) Welcome
(00:17) Stravinsky, Serenata from Suite italienne | Between Worlds Ensemble (music excerpt)
(00:42) Avi Avital on the significance of the mandolin
(01:02) Bach, Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007 (music excerpt)
(02:05) On different sizes and shapes of mandolins
(02:39) R.E.M., Losing My Religion (music excerpt)
(02:59) Avi as the cool student who played pop songs
(03:15) Vivaldi, Presto from Concerto in A minor, RV 356 | Venice Baroque Orchestra (music excerpt)
(03:29) How Avi came to play the mandolin as a child
(03:56) Vivaldi, Presto from Concerto in A minor, RV 356 | Venice Baroque Orchestra (music excerpt)
(04:33) There's always something new to discover on the mandolin
(04:59) Ernest Bloch, Nigun from Baal Shem (music excerpt)
(05:52) Avital on life as an artist in Italy and Berlin
(06:45) Avital explains playing G major and C major on the mandolin
(07:13) Bučimiš, Traditional Bulgarian dance (music excerpt)
(07:32) Avital on his mission to establish the mandolin as an instrument
(07:56) Torelli, Grave from Concerto grosso, Op. 8, No. 6 | Between Worlds Ensemble (music excerpt)
Report: Christian Weibezahn
Camera: Thomas Koppehele
Editing: Florian Scholz
© Deutsche Welle, 2023
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[@monkeytennis7477]

I love mandolins!! I'm not that good of a player but ended up kind of collecting them. My oldest one is an antique George Bauer bowlback mandolin, that I rescued from a thrift store! You just never know what you might find sometimes. My best wishes to all mandolin enthusiasts out there. ☮️🤗💖🎄🌌☃️❄️

[@elkemadan237]

You are a wonderful player of the mandolin.YourElke .I am 82 years organist from Germany

[@vicodiaz4211]

Avi is so great! 🔥👑🙏🏾

[@peterwu8471]

Seems like Avi plays lots of pieces that anyone could learn with some effort. He makes it attainable.

[@erickleefeld4883]

For the Bach piece at 1:02, he was playing the mandolin’s slightly bigger brother, the mandola. The two instruments together are the fretted cousins of the violin and the viola.

[@user-sh6pm8de9b]

❤❤❤고맙습니다.
음률을 자유스럽게 연주하는 테크닉도 어린시절 연습의 연장 같습니다.

[@lydiauno7657]

Le aplaudo ..suena muy muy lindo, mis hermanos tocaban mandolina y bandurria, se de las horas horas horas de ensayo y aprendizaje 👍🙋‍♀️👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@paganina2330]

Thanks for this documentary eventhough it was too short for me. Would have watched one or two hours. Love Avi Avital and playing mandolin myself, especially concertos such as Hummel or Vivaldi and Bach. But the Bloch Nigun was amazing. It’s always amazing how he adapts literature of other instruments to fit on the mandolin (Bloch Nigun was composed for violin).

[@DWClassicalMusic]

Hello Paganini 23, thanks for your comment! We're glad you enjoyed the documentary about Avi Avital 😊 If you enjoy watching documentaries on classical music topics, perhaps you will find something you like on the playlist below? There are also some slightly longer documentaries
ruclips.net/p/PL_SdnzPd3eBUu43Xaa5AYyL7MruoJ42WD
Best from Berlin!

[@paganina2330]

@@DWClassicalMusic Thanks a lot for your recommendation. I‘ll check that out for sure because I love classical music and documentaries.

[@monkeytennis7477]

I would also watch this Avi documentary, for 2 hours! What a treasure is this lovely musician 💖☮️

[@krishnansrinivasan830]

Awesome :)

[@msplateaugal]

Delightful portrait of a wonderful musician and his love for the mandolin. May I ask about this beautiful mandolin? Who was the luthier? I have been searching hard and cannot find this information.

[@mandolin-george-uk]

where is the museum he is standing in ?

[@bojanaignjatovic8788]

❤❤❤

[@mariagomezacebo]

In Spain many people plays mandolin

[@bojanaignjatovic8788]

🐷🌻🍓

[@peterwu8471]

Nice guy - I think he should get some lessons from Thile.