I Put a Spell on You

Reviewing the Radius Ensemble.
Boston Globe, May 9, 2007.

Cut for space was mention of my favorite movement of Silenzio, the fourth one: whispery notes hammered directly on the strings’ fingerboards with muted accordion clusters. Accordion with strings is such a great combination. (The players for that one were Biliana Voutchkova on violin, sympathetically joined by cellist Agnieszka Dziubak and Cory Pesaturo, playing the bayan part on a Western piano accordion with a deft hand, particularly with the instrument’s finicky delicate registers.)

2 comments

  1. After enduring a January weekend of some of Gubaidulina’s most turgid, overblown music, thank you for reassuring me that <>Silenzio<> is as great as I remembered it, having only heard it once at a nightclub concert fifteen years ago. During that fourth movement, everyone in the room started breathing in the same slow rhythm that underpinned the music.

  2. Thanks for the awesome review. I’m really enjoying your writing in the Globe and also here in this blog! Best, Alicia DiDonato

Leave a Reply