Amanda Holloway
Music journalist and editor
‘I can’t get over the fact that every night Ksenija Sidorova performs with a three-and-a-half stone piano accordion strapped to her chest. But she makes that big beast sound like a million dollars.’
Born in Riga, Latvia, Ksenija Sidorova has been playing the accordion since childhood. Passionate about showcasing the instrument and expanding its repertoire, she performs classical music ranging from Bach and Bizet to contemporary composers such as Erkkisven Tüür, plus folk and f lamenco too. Her new album Piazzolla Reflections pairs unusual Piazzolla pieces with new commissions and is out now on Alpha.
My connection with the accordion started when I was six and staying with my grandparents in Russia. I was fascinated by a garmoshka, a little folk accordion I found in the attic, so my grandmother acquired a mini accordion from her neighbours. She sang Russian folk songs and I played the accompaniment, and the two of us had parties at home. I carried on learning the piano accordion at music school in Riga and didn’t find it difficult because my teacher made it seem so natural. What was hard was not being able to grow my nails long or wear a skirt! And the accordion seems to be getting heavier every year – it weighs three-and-a-half stone.
One of the recordings that changed my life was Piazzolla Forever by the French accordionist RICHARD GALLIANO.I heard pieces from this programme live in concert a few days before leaving for London to play at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) and I thought, ‘Wow, there’s nothing I want to do in my life except play the accordion’. I was 16, still at school in Riga, and had no idea I was going to an entrance audition; I thought I was going to a masterclass. The professor, Owen Murray, didn’t want to worry me, so he said ‘Just come and play’. The Academy was like a dream come true because I was surrounded by people doing music. I missed my parents but I enjoyed being a musician so much.
The Russian pianist Lilya Zilberstein gave a masterclass while I was at the RAM and I was inspired by her personality.
Her recording with Martha Argerich of RACHMANINOV’S Barcarolle is probably the pinnacle of pianism from both women. I love Rachmaninov and I play some of his pieces on the accordion but sadly the Barcarolle just doesn’t work. The sentimental side of me was opened by Rachmaninov – his music sounds so
Russian, just like Tchaikovsky, and it runs deep in the genes and the veins.
His Symphony No. 2, conducted by Valery Gergiev, is another of my all-time favourites. As a student I was one of six accordion players in a Prokofiev cantata conducted by Gergiev, and we were having trouble timing our entrance. I spoke Russian and he asked me, ‘What’s the problem?’ So I demonstrated how he could make it clearer to us and suddenly realised I was teaching him how to conduct!
MOZART’S music brings every emotion back home and makes it rational. I listen to all the piano concertos, particularly
No. 23, played by Maria João Pires – such a natural musician. Mozart’s music is tricky but it is playable on the accordion. When transcribing or even playing an original work I think about phrasing like a stringed instrument rather than a piano – strings seem more close to the accordion because you use the bellows like you would a bow.
Something close to me right now is GRANADOS’S Goyescas No. 5, ‘El amor y la muerte’, especially played by pianist Alicia de Larrocha. I got to know this piece long before I moved to Spain (I have been married to a Spaniard for five years). My teacher introduced me to music by creating stories, and Spanish music is so visual – Granados, Falla and Albéniz write pieces that go off like fireworks. I play a lot of traditional and classical Spanish music, and I recorded an album, Carmen, with wonderful world and flamenco musicians.
Thinking about people who opened up my musicality, I often perform with the brilliant violinist Nemanja Radulovi and I love his recording of DVO ÁK’S Songs My Mother Taught Me. There are many recordings out there but this one has a unique face and a very different approach to tempos. The way in which he takes time and gains it back later is very free and very romantic. A must-listen, although I cry every time I hear it.