Piazzolla Reflections
Show recording detailsAJ 0664
Piazzolla Reflections
Label Catalogue Number:
Alpha664
Alpha664
Running Time: 80:50
Release Date: February 2021
Originally recorded in 2020
Originally recorded in 2020
Genre:
Orchestral & Concertos
Orchestral & Concertos
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About
Riga-born Ksenija Sidorova is today one of the most eminent global ambassadors of the classical accordion. She has proudly borne the colours of her instrument in appearances in the world’s leading halls and with the foremost orchestras. Here she pays homage to Piazzolla in her own way: ‘Piazzolla the revolutionary, the ground-breaker, a man thinking ahead of his time . . . Playing this repertoire gave me a sense of artistic freedom and ignited my belief in advocacy of my instrument. For this album, I wanted to celebrate Piazzolla the innovator by pairing some his masterworks with pieces written by other composers for classical accordion, the majority of which I have premiered in recent years. Being of Russian heritage, I couldn’t help noticing the similarity between the nostalgia of the tango and that of Russian composer Sergey Voitenko’s Revelation. French accordionist-composer Franck Angelis’s Fantasia is based on Piazzolla’s waltz-tango, and the programme is completed by the Nocturne of Italian accordionist-composer Pietro Roffi and a piece by Sergey Akhunov.’
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Reviews
Andrew Farach-Colton Favourite Album of 2021
“For me, there was no choice but Astor Piazzolla for this, the tanguero’s centenary year. And no tribute proved as thought-provoking and just plain enjoyable as Ksenija Sidorova’s. Never mind that she plays on an accordion, her sizzling recording of the Bandoneón Concerto can proudly stand alongside the composer’s own.”
Gramophone magazine - Critics' Choice 2021
“… The disc isn’t all Piazzolla … Sidorova has also programmed a series of other works to “reflect” on the Argentine composer, hence the disc’s title. The other works are interpolated among the Piazzollas, and that approach works pretty well because they have interesting conversations with their surroundings. They're all by contemporary composers, and if they can't escape Piazzolla’s orbit then that's kind of the point. I loved the seductive wheeze of Voitenko’s solo Revelation, and there is an exquisite melancholy to Roffi’s Nocturne. Angelis’ Piazzolla Fantasie is an affectionate homage (in which I loved the way the accordion dashes in, panting, from nowhere), and there is a beautiful strangeness to Akhunov’s Two Keys. The Bach/Marcello transcription is utterly magical however, giving the accordion a lyrical cantabile that I never knew it possessed. The disc ends with Piazzolla’s Libertango… The piece pulses with heart-thumping brilliance, and Sidorova plays it with the affection and expertise that you would expect from its place in her story. It's an exciting and brilliant way to end an exciting and brilliant disc, one that has fired my interest in Piazzolla and left me hungry for more…”
Simon Thomson – MusicWeb-International.com – 12 May 2021
Performance **** Recording ***
“…Even if Piazzolla fails to cast the spell clearly experienced by Sidorova herself, the srtistry of this Latvian-born musician and her instrumental colleagues still males this album worthwhile. Dynamic shifts and the sculpting of phrases couldn’t be subtler, while the range of colours is vast, variously boosted by piquant accompaniments featuring piano, violin, plucked double bass and guitar, sometimes a string quartet…”
Geoff Brown – BBC Music magazine – May 2021
“… Engineering throughout is uniformly impressive, even though the recordings come from three different sessions and locations. The program is intelligently designed, with a diversity of styles that allow Sidorova to display her complete mastery of her instrument. Warwick Thompson’s liner notes are engaging and informative. A highly enjoyable album.”
David A. McConnell – theclassicreview.com - 9 March 2021
Editor’s Choice – Instrumental Section
“… Brilliantly played and intelligently programmed, this beautifully recorded album is Sidorova’s best yet, and the most satisfying Piazzolla disc to come my way in quite some time.”
Andrew Farach-Colton – Gramophone magazine – March 2021
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