The Globe and Mail (Canada - April 2012)

Accordion Concertos ... external link
30 Apr 2012 The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Review by: Elissa Poole

Work by Lohse: In liquid... (accordion concerto, second version)
Cd: Accordion Concertos (SACD). Bjarke Mogensen, accordion and Danish National Chamber Orchestra conducted by Rolf Gupta. Dacapo: 6.220592

The accordion is classical music's black sheep. Per Norgard's 1960s Recall - an Ivesian farrago of Balkan folk music, syncopated dance rhythms, circus oom-pah and conga drums - celebrates its alien status in the modern symphony orchestra. Ole Schmidt's neo-classical 1958 concerto tries to ignore it, focusing instead on the traditional confrontation between soloist and orchestra, an old battle joyfully redeemed by the mere presence of the accordion. Anders Koppel's delightful Concerto Piccolo mixes pop-culture familiarity with comic-book jumpiness, but it has moments of eerie quietude, sending the accordion up into its highest, itchiest register with sidelong glances towards Parisian clichés. We also love the ooze and slide of Martin Lohse's In Liquid - and a virtuoso performance by the brilliant young Danish accordionist, Bjarke Mogensen.