# Avi Avital & Hanzhi Wang at Alfred Hertz Memorial Concert Hall, October 15, 2023

[Cal Performances](https://calperformances.org/events/2023-24/recital/avi-avital-mandolin-hanzhi-wang-accordion/) presents [Avi Avital](http://www.aviavital.com/) and [Hanzhi Wang](http://www.hanzhiwang.org/)  
[Alfred Hertz Memorial Concert Hall](http://music.berkeley.edu/about-us/resources-and-facilities/performance-spaces/)  
[U.C. Berkeley, 101 Cross-Sproul Path, Berkeley, CA 94704 USA](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=U.C.+Berkeley,+101+Cross-Sproul+Path,+Berkeley,+CA+94704+USA&hl=en)  
3:00 PM, Sunday, October 15, 2023

[[2023-10-13|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2023|Up to the 2023 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2023#October_events|Up to the 2023 event list!]] ☸ [[2023-10-15-2|On to the next event!]]

## Set One

[3:06 PM] {lights down; AA enters and introduces the first work}

### Bloch: Nigun

01. [3:08 PM] Ernest Bloch (1880–1959): _Nigun_ (Mvt II from _Baal Shem_, 1923)  
[3:13 PM] {segment ends; AA off}

### Kreisler: Praeludium and Allegro

[3:14 PM] {enter AA & HW; dead air}

01. [3:15 PM] Fritz Kreisler (1875–1962): _Praeludium and Allegro “in the Style of Pugnani”_ (1910)  
[3:20 PM] {segment ends; both off}

### Bach: Selections from Goldberg Variations

[3:21 PM] {enter HW; introduction of the next segment}

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): Selections from the _Goldberg Variations_, BWV 988 (1741), (arranged for accordion)

01. [3:22 PM] Aria
02. [3:26 PM] Variation 1
03. [3:27 PM] Variation 7
04. [3:29 PM] Variation 14
05. [3:30 PM] Variation 18
06. [3:32 PM] Variation 29  
[3:33 PM] {segment ends; HW off}

### Stravinsky: Suite Italienne

[3:34 PM] {enter AA & HW; AA explains how the remainder of the set will go}

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971): excerpts from _Suite Italienne_ (1934)

01. [3:36 PM] I: Introduzione (Allegro moderato)
02. [3:38 PM] II: Serenata (Larghetto)
03. [3:41 PM] III: Tarantella (Vivace)
04. [3:43 PM] VI: Minuetto e Finale (Moderato – Molto vivace)  
[3:47 PM] {applause at end of work; very short pause before next piece}

### Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances

Béla Bartók (1881–1945): _Romanian Folk Dances_ (1915)

01. [3:48 PM] Jocul cu Bâtă
02. [3:49 PM] Brâul
03. [3:49 PM] Pe Loc
04. [3:51 PM] Buciumeana
05. [3:52 PM] Poarga Românească
06. [3:53 PM] Mărunţel  
[3:53 PM] {segment ends}  
[3:54 PM] {set break!}

## Set Two

[4:10 PM] {lights down, AA enters alone}

### J. S. Bach: Chaconne from Partita No. 2, BWV 1004

01. [4:11 PM] J. S. Bach (1685–1750): Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 (1720) (arranged for mandolin)  
[4:25 PM] {segment ends; AA off}

### Three short works

[4:26 PM] {AA & HW return for the concluding segment}  
[4:27 PM] {AA outlines the remaining program}

01. [4:28 PM] Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921): Introduction and [4:30 PM] Rondo Capriccioso (1863)
02. [4:39 PM] Pablo de Sarasate (1844–1908): Romanza Andaluza from _Spanish Dances_, Op. 22 (1877–1882)
03. [4:43 PM] Manuel de Falla (1876–1946): Danse Espagnole No. 1 from _La vida breve_ (1904–1905)  
[4:47 PM] {segment ends}  
   
**Encore**
04. [4:49 PM] Armin Kaufmann (1902–1980): _Mitoka Dragomirna_ (Mvt II from Zwei Stücke für Mandoline, (1965))  
[4:51 PM] {applause}  
[4:52 PM] {show ends}

## Performers

* [Avi Avital](http://www.aviavital.com/): mandolin;
* [Hanzhi Wang](http://www.hanzhiwang.org/): accordion;
 others TBD.

## Notes

This afternoon's show was a curious combination of repertoire: half-Spanish Baroque mish-mash?

Overall, I'm glad I went, and I thought the performances were great, but I'm not sure I'd attend another show with this combo: it just didn't grab me quite enough. My favorite of the afternoon was the selection of Goldbergs performed in the accordion. Hard to go wrong with Bach, right? Second favorite for me was the Stravinsky, especially the Tarentella section. Why not the other Bach bit, you ask? Probably because the violin version is so embedded in my head that hearing it on mandolin just didn't seem right. Like seeing a priest in combat boots, or a cowboy riding a bicycle.

[Program Notes](https://calperformances.org/program-notes/2023-24/avi-avital-mandolin-hanzhi-wang-accordion/) or {{:2023:2023-10:20231015pn.pdf|program notes}}

Lou Fancher posted a [promo article](https://www.sfcv.org/articles/preview/turns-out-accordion-and-mandolin-go-great-together) with SFCV.

{{tag>music Avi_Avital Hanzhi_Wang Hertz_Hall  }}

[[2023-10-13|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2023|Up to the 2023 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2023#October_events|Up to the 2023 event list!]] ☸ [[2023-10-15-2|On to the next event!]]