Avi Avital / Ksenija Sidorova

Mandolin and accordion is a combination that you don’t often see on a concert stage. But in between the sighing sadness of the bellows, the frolicsome strumming on the strings; the nostalgic pizzicato and the uplifting free bass melodies, this is a combination that works very convincingly. That’s been proven time and time again by mandolin player Avi Avital and accordionist Ksenija Sidorova. In the meantime, they have been performing together for seven years, so high time to invite this exceptional pair to perform in our Blue Hall. Their rich programme embraces the folkish undertones of both their instruments, and includes, among others, the Siete canciones populares españolas from Manuel de Falla, the fifth Bachiana Brasileira from Heitor Villa-Lobos, the traditional Bulgarian Bucimis and the Romanian Folk Dances of Béla Bartók. Although with arrangements of Kreisler, Stravinsky and Saint-Saëns, they show that this unusual combination can breathe new life into the classical repertoire too.