Musica Viva: Avi Avital & Giovanni Sollima

You might be familiar with your Beethoven, Bartók and Bach, but how often do you broaden your musical horizons? How often do you seek out Salento dances? Bulgarian preludes? Improvisation? Mediterranean is your passport to this rich musical landscape. Israeli mandolinist Avi Avital and Italian cellist Giovanni Sollima present four centuries of culture from opposite sides of the sea. These good mates will use words and music to share traditional Salento, Bulgarian, Turkish, Sephardic and Macedonian works. We’ll also forge new traditions when Giovanni plays one of his own improvisations, followed by Tarantella orientale from composer Eliodoro Sollima (or, as Giovanni knows him, Papa). Nestled between these experiences will be a couple of Baroque sonatas (enter Italian legends Scarlatti and Castello), and a 17th-century canzona from Frescobaldi.