Programme

Plucked Bach à due

G.F. Handel (1685-1759)                     Sonata for mandolin and harpsichord after organ concerto op. 4 no. 6

J.S. Bach (1685-1750)                          Cello Suite no. 3 BWV 1009 (mandolin solo)

D. Scarlatti (1685-1757)                       Sonata in E minor for mandolin and basso continuo, K. 81

J.S. Bach                                               Capriccio BWV 992 (harpsichord solo)

J.S. Bach                                               Sonata in C Major (orig. for flute and harpsichord) BWV 1033

For the past decade, mandolinist and multi-instrumentalist Alon Sariel has been breathing new life into the mandolin, inspiring critics and audiences alike with his contagious musicianship and flawless technique, which makes him one of the highest ranked mandolinists in the world. With a record of over a thousand concerts in more than 35 countries, he maintains a multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber player and artistic director in diverse productions. With Sariel’s ever-growing curiosity for different cultures and genres, various plucked instruments find their way to his hands and often – ‘when it clicks’, as he puts it – ‘they come to stay’. In his concerts, he easily switches between those ‘plucked partners’ to create diverse musical experiences for his audiences. In his release Plucked Bach (PENTATONE), Alon Sariel approaches Bach’s solo music in enticing new arrangements on different mandolins and lutes, the baroque guitar and the oud. For the Beethoven anniversary in 2020, he was invited by Naxos to record the composer’s works for mandolin and fortepiano. With his album Telemandolin (Berlin Classics) Sariel has become the first mandolinist to be awarded an OPUS KLASSIK. Alon Sariel is a goodwill ambassador for the animal welfare organisation Pro Animale. In his free he likes to be in the nature, read or meditate.

Michael Tsalka is currently Assistant Professor at the School of Music, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. He is also a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA), Salzburg, Austria, The Chairman of the Board (and faculty) of the European Fortepiano Museum and Academy (EFM), Germany, a visiting Professor at Celaya Conservatory of Music, Guanajuato, Mexico, and an Artist-in-Residence at the Nelson Centre of Musical Arts (NCMA, New Zealand: 2024, 2025). As a pianist and early keyboard performer, he has won numerous prizes in Europe, Asia, North America, and Latin America. He is a versatile musician, who performs repertoire from the early Baroque era to our days.

Prof. Tsalka was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. After studying in Israel, Germany, and Italy, he graduated in 2008 from Temple University (U.S.A) with a D.M.A. in Piano Performance and an M.M. in Early Keyboard Performance and Chamber Music. He maintains a busy concert schedule, performing around 100 concerts a year worldwide. Recent engagements included the Hall of Central Harmony in Beijing Forbidden City, Bellas Artes Theatre, Mexico City, the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, the Metropolitan Museum, New York, St Denis Festival, Paris, and others. Together with musicologist Dr. Angélica Minero Escobar, he has prepared a critical edition of Daniel Gottlob Türk’s 30 keyboard sonatas for Artaria Editions in New Zealand. Additionally, eight of his scholarly articles have been published by music journals, in Italy, the U.S.A., and the Netherlands. He has recorded 35 critically acclaimed CDs, with repertoire from the Baroque period to the Contemporary Era for NAXOS, Grand Piano, Paladino, Brilliant Classics, IMI, Sheva Collection, Wirripang, and Ljud & Bild.

Around 80 contemporary compositions (which he premiered) were dedicated to him by composers from all over the world. Pamela Hickman described his CD of the Seven Viktor Ullmann’s Piano Sonatas on Concert Critique Blog, “Tsalka’s articulate and sensitive reading gives each sonata palpable musical life, the works coming across as ‘contemporary’ and as relevant to current musical thought today as when they were written. This is a great and lasting strength of Viktor Ullmann’s writing. Michael Tsalka finds a fine balance between his understanding of the background and circumstances of each sonata and his objective playing of some of the finest piano music composed in the first half of the 20th century.”