The accordion has a long history in Polish musical culture, and anyone who digs through a stack of polka 78s will find a few tangos from Poland played on an accordion rather than the Argentine bandoneon. Accordionist
Klaudiusz Baran
is an enthusiastic tango player who also performs 20th century music, and it is the latter that is on display here; there is little influence of the tango, although the final work, by
Mikolaj Majkusiak
, uses Polish folk rhythms in its outer movements. Both that work and the
Concerto Polacco
by
Bronislaw Kazimierz Przybylski
feature gorgeous slow movements with many solo parts for the accordion; these invite
Baran
to show off his cantabile, which he does with lovely effect.
Makusiak
's finale features the accordion in dialogue with some extended sonorities from the orchestra, but mostly this music is squarely within the neoclassic tradition, with little trace of the avant-garde uses to which the accordion has occasionally been put.
gets brisk, accurate support from the
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra
under
Michal Klauza
on an album that makes a valuable contribution to the small but growing literature of music for the classical accordion. ~ James Manheim