Concerti has praised Alon Sariel’s Plucked Bach III, with critic Ecki Ramón Weber calling the final installment of Sariel’s Bach trilogy a refreshing approach overall.
The album completes Sariel’s exploration of Bach’s solo works using an array of plucked instruments, adding the Ottoman bağlama and a rare Tuscan-type mandola to his established palette of mandolins and archlute. Weber highlights the bass-heavy archlute’s rendering of the Adagio from the Violin Sonata No. 3, noting the greater earthiness it brings to the movement, as well as the famous C major Prelude from The Well-Tempered Clavier, which the review describes as flowing casually in shimmering, gentle waves.
The review also singles out Sariel’s mandolin arrangement of the Cello Suite No. 3, praising how he compensates for the absence of bowing with the instrument’s natural resonances, particularly in the Sarabande. Weber calls Sariel’s sensitively explored sonic language a masterclass in itself.
Plucked Bach III is out now on PENTATONE.
