Listen & tracks
2 of 16 tracks have a preview · 6 works · 60:35
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Concerto for GuitarSylvius Leopold Weiss 5 movements8:32
- 1 Largo 1:43
- 2 Allegro :43
- 3 Allegro Molto 2:44
- 4 Largo 1:35
- 5 Presto 1:47
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6 A Celebration Robert Schulz 8:29
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7 Song of the Japanese Autumn Yasuo Kuwahara 12:08
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Concertino for MandolaFred Witt 3 movements7:24
- 8 Allegro 1:55
- 9 Andante 3:02
- 10 Allegro 2:27
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SummertripJürgen Klose 3 movements13:27
- 11 Rondo 5:10
- 12 Ostinato 3:51
- 13 Tatry 4:26
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Tanz SuiteWilli Althoff 3 movements10:35
- 14 Slow Foxtrot 3:04
- 15 Slow Waltz 3:04
- 16 Foxtrot 4:27
Slava Grigoryan appears as soloist with the Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra on this Move release. Recorded just before he signed with Sony, Melbourne’s guitar virtuoso was already being compared with John Williams.
He joined the orchestra at fourteen and had appeared as soloist on its tours of Japan and Europe.
Captured in the acoustic of Xavier College Chapel, the disc offers approachable classical selections for mandolin orchestra.
Conductor Fred Witt had led the MMO since 1991. Respected worldwide as a conductor, composer and performer of plucked music, in 1993 he took the orchestra to every prize at the First International Mandolin Competition in Belgium, including his own Concertino for Mandola with longstanding member Kurt Jensen as soloist.
Danish-born Jensen, like Grigoryan, began performing professionally young. He appears here as mandola soloist; he had held posts with European orchestras and was a familiar presenter on Melbourne’s 3MBS-FM.
Mandolinist Michelle Wright and cellist Karla Drazenovic also take solo roles.
Under Witt the orchestra plays with a maturity and depth of musicality akin to leading traditional string orchestras.
Reviews
tomorrow's virtuoso with today's attitude ... one of the most exciting classical guitarists to have emerged in years
We should give warm applause to the Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra for its bravery and talent. It is so brave that it dares to survive strongly in a time when many people still do not treat it fairly. And the Orchestra is so talented that it plays virtuosic music without trouble.
Artists
Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra
orchestra
The Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra was formed in 1967 by Peter Evans and Josef Ruecker to develop and maintain a mandolin orchestra in Melbourne. Besides regular performance it organises summer schools and workshops, trains new players, hosts visiting groups and commissions new music.
Slava Grigoryan
guitar
Slava Grigoryan’s classical guitar brings colour, texture and a pleasurable weightlessness to chamber music, whether set against mandolin orchestra shimmer, late-night improvisation, or spare contemporary Australian scores.
Willi Althoff
composer
Willi Althoff composes and arranges music for mandolin orchestra. Among his works is a dance suite of foxtrots and a slow waltz for plucked strings.
Jürgen Klose
composer
Yasuo Kuwahara
composer
Robert Schulz
composer
Robert Schulz writes for mandolin and guitar orchestra, placing dance energy and open colour beside folk tunes, waltzes and light classical favourites. His Folk Dance, Outback and A Celebration appear on Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra programmes built for shimmering plucked sound.
Sylvius Leopold Weiss
composer
Sylvius Leopold Weiss left the largest known body of music for the lute: late Baroque sonatas, fantasias and concertos of intricate counterpoint and singing line, still claimed by classical guitar and mandolin as well as the period instrument.
Fred Witt
composer
Fred Witt (1922–) was born in Dortmund and studied singing, composition, guitar, zither, accordion and conducting at Dortmund Conservatorium, grounding a career in composition and direction.
Digital booklet
Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDFPerformers
- Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra · orchestra
- Slava Grigoryan · guitar · tracks 1–5
- Karla Drazenovic · cello · track 6
- Michelle Wright · mandolin · track 7
- Kurt Jensen · mandola · tracks 8–10
- Fred Witt · conductor
Technical credits
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Recording Engineer
Martin Wright
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Venue
Xavier College Chapel
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Credit
Kon Euan Wong
Michael England
Michelle Wright
Tony Hofmann
Vaughan McAlley
Details
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 60 minutes 35 seconds
- Release date
- 1994
- Categories
- Classical, Cross-cultural
- Musical work copyright
- © 1994 Move Records
- Sound recording copyright
- ℗ 1994 Move Records
- Catalogue
- MD 3159
- EAN
- 9314574315929
More to explore
Mandolino Italiano
The Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra presents a programme built around Italian melody and the Neapolitan mandolin tradition. Bitelli, a Bellini fantasy, period arias with soprano, a Verdi La Traviata fantasy, Toselli’s Serenade, and well-loved popular songs.
World Music
The Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra presents music from around the world: Latin American dances, Klezmer, Slavic folk and blues, in contemporary works that still draw on traditional song and dance.
Such a Sky
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