I'm tempted by the Hopf MaFa41 Seifert-style mandola for a number of reasons. I could use it with the local mandolin and guitar orchestra, but mainly because my ears often complain that the (sacrilege alert!) mandolin is too high in pitch, and because I have big hands, long fingers, and would appreciate the extra room.
A negative would have to be learning to read the alto clef. It's possible to write things out in Musescore, make a couple of clicks to change it into the treble clef, as if it is tuned GDAE, but still come out at the right pitch, but it would be much better to learn to read, for example, the viola part of Mozart's violin and viola duets straight off the score.
As for solo classical repertoire, I imagine much of the available repertoire would still be accessible, albeit sounding a 5th lower, with perhaps a few changes of fingering in stretchy spots.
I'd also like to play with a classical-guitarist friend. Aquila have a set of guitar strings tuned down a 5th, ADGCEA, so we could both read mandolin and guitar duets as if in standard tuning. Yes, it would come out lower in pitch, but I don't think the world would stop revolving.
But I'd like to know how much real, dedicated classical solo mandola repertoire is out there, of any era, historical or contemporary.
Any suggestions or thoughts?
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