De Volkskrant has awarded five stars to Alon Sariel’s Plucked Bach III, with critic Merlijn Kerkhof writing that whether on lute, mandolin, or mandola, his playing is world-class.
The review highlights the album’s opening track, a lute arrangement of the Adagio from Bach’s Third Sonata for solo violin, describing Sariel’s shifting tone colours as though he brings up the sun with a small turn of his hand. Kerkhof also praises a musette from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach played on the Ottoman bağlama, noting how it sharpens the ear anew.
The review singles out Sariel’s account of the Chaconne, a piece Kerkhof admits he had always approached with some trepidation, given how easily its grandeur on paper can become an earthbound compromise in performance. Here, the suppleness and legato Sariel brings to the piece are praised as commanding admiration in their own right.
Plucked Bach III is out now on PENTATONE.
