The Times has named Alon Sariel’s Plucked Bach III one of the best classical albums of the month, awarding it four stars and praising the chaconne from Bach’s Second Partita as the album’s highlight, where Sariel and his mandolin sail through in glory.
The review frames the album as the final installment in Sariel’s Plucked Bach trilogy, noting that performing Bach on lutes and mandolins only underlines the music’s beauty and purity. The Times highlights the fifteen-minute chaconne in particular, remarking that few violinists would relish playing pizzicato for that long, yet Sariel’s mandolin carries it off with the help of a friendly acoustic that amplifies the album’s range of timbres, from the archlute to the Tuscan mandola used on the Third Cello Suite.
The review notes one reservation, finding the brief use of the Turkish bağlama somewhat rasping, but concludes that the rest of the album is a real tonic.
Plucked Bach III is out now on PENTATONE.
