Search - Modest Mussorgsky, Igor Stravinsky, James Crabb & Geir Draugsvoll :: Duos for Classical Accordions

A singular achievement, a unique pleasure

Steven Strauss | Oakland, CA USA | 04/26/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These two young Europeans have done an inspired and remarkably attentive job of translating the orchestral music of Stravinsky's Russian folk ballet "Petrushka" for their two great button accordions. The score itself seems at times to have been inspired by the quaint, wheezy dance music often played on the accordion in Old Russia, making it a particularly apt choice for this unusual duo. I have saved for last the most compelling reason to buy this disc: the level of technical skill and the range of expression on display will leave speechless any music lover in your circle who dismisses the accordion as a mistake of creation. Music of such interpretive richness and rigorousness cannot be dismissed. (I may add, if you are the sort of person who likes to dance to the music, these two will not let you down.)The disc is rounded out by an aggressive, somewhat hurried reading of Stravinsky's usually melancholy "Tango," and a meritorous adaptation of Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition," which comes off like a reasonable compromise between the original keyboard work and the orchestrated version which made its fame. The playing throughout is nearly faultless."