Alon Sariel (mandolin), Kölner Akademie (chamber ensemble)
Michael Alexander Willens

Mozart: Andante in C major, K315 for flute and orchestra
Krähmer, E: Larghetto and Rondo for Mandolin and Orchestra: I. Larghetto. Adagio
Krähmer, E: Larghetto and Rondo for Mandolin and Orchestra: I. Rondo. Allegro moderato
Joseph Haydn, Alon Sariel: "Haydn's Mandolin Concerto" in C Major: I. Moderato (After J. Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Hob. VIIb:1)
Joseph Haydn, Alon Sariel: "Haydn's Mandolin Concerto" in C Major: II. Adagio (After J. Haydn: Violin Concerto in C Major, Hob. VIIa:1)
Alon Sariel, Ignaz Malzat: "Haydn's Mandolin Concerto" in C Major: III. Rondo Allegretto (After Ignaz Malzat: Oboe Concerto in C Major, mistakenly attributed to Haydn, Hob. VIIg:C1)
Krähmer, E: Andantino for Mandolin and Orchestra
Krähmer, E: Theme and Variations for Mandolin and Orchestra
Paisiello: Concerto for Mandolin and Strings in C major

Vienna Mandolin Stories is Alon Sariel's first full concerto album, inviting listeners on a journey through late-18th- and early-19th-century Vienna. The album features works for mandolin and orchestra by Haydn, Mozart, Krahmer, and Paisiello. While some pieces were originally composed for mandolin, others have been skillfully adapted by Sariel. The album thrives on Sariel's inventive and playful approach, as represented in "Haydn's Mandolin Concerto", an imaginative rearrangement combining movements from different concertos, including one by Malzat long misattributed to Haydn. Highlights also include the "bluegrass" cadence in the slow movement of the "Haydn" concerto and the clever nod to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier in Sariel's arrangement of Mozart's Andante for Flute and Orchestra. Sariel brings to light Ernest Krahmer's works for mandolin and orchestra, recently found at the Bavarian State Library and recorded here for the first time. The period musicians of the Kolner Akademie, under the direction of Michael Alexander Willens, deliver an ideal soundscape for these vibrant and colorful works.