Lidia Kaminska: Breaking Boundaries Classical Accordion

Item Description: Compact Disc

Breaking Boundaries by Talented and Beautiful Polish Accordionist Lidia Kaminska.

Musicians:

Lidia Kaminska: accordion (Zero Sette B32 C 64 T58 Special N, built in 1995)
Ian Flatt, cello
James hall, flute
Beau Bedsoe, guitar
Jeff Harshbarger, double bass
Pat Alonzo Conway, dumbek
Fernando Achucarro, cajon
Bill Solomon, percussion
Scotty McBee, drum set

Program:

J.S. Bach (1685-1750) Prelude and fugue in B flat Major from The Well Tempered Clavier, Book One, BWV 866
Jaroslaw Bester (1976- ) The Amorous Dance of the Orchid
Tomás Gubitsch (1957- ) Villa Luro
Anibal Troilo (1914-1975) La Trampera
Astor Piazzolla (1921- 1992) La Grand Tango
Franck Angelis (1962- ) Romance
A. Repnikov (1932) Capriccio
J.S. Bach (1685-1750) Sonata for flute and keyboard in G minor, BWV 1020
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) Sonata for Keyboard in E Major, K. 162
Torbjörn Lundquist (1966- ) Duell
Brad Cox (1967- ) Schenker's Last Stand
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) Coral 

Total time: 70:36
Label: Tzigane
Released: 2005

Review by Henry Doktorski

Polish accordionist Lidia Kaminska received her Masters Degree in Accordion Performance in 1999 at the prestigious Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw under the tutelage of Professor Wlodzimierz Lech Puchnowski. In 2002 she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Accordion Performance at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, under Professor Joan Cochran Sommers. That same year she won two ATG competitions: International Competition for Virtuoso Entertainment Music and International Competition for Classical Accordion.

Kaminska's debut CD features the accordion as a solo instrument and also in combination with other instruments. Some of the pieces, such as Jaroslaw Bester's "The Amorous Dance of the Orchid" for accordion, double bass and dumbek (a type of drum), and Tomás Gubitsch's "Villa Luro" for accordion and guitar, have a popular or jazzy dance-music feel. Others, like the Bach and Scarlatti, have a more-formal structure and style. I must draw particular attention to Kaminska's performance of Piazzolla's "Le Grand Tango" for cello and accordion. This piece, originally written for cello and piano, is not easy to perform successfully on the accordion, as the piano is a percussive instrument and the accordion is a sustaining instrument. I was pleasantly surprised to hear how nicely the piano part sounds in Kaminska's capable hands. Very nice.

 I heartily recommend this CD for all lovers of the classical accordion. Truly a welcome addition to any accordion library.   

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To listen to an MP3 soundfile of an excerpt from one track from this CD (Bach's Prelude), Click Here.