Nikola Djoric - Bach & Piazzolla (2021)

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Nikola Djoric - Bach & Piazzolla (2021)

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Bach & Piazzolla - two composers who actually have nothing to do with each other? Nevertheless, the Serbian accordionist Nikola Djoric, who lives in Austria, has united them on one album, creating above all a world of sound unknown to Bach. Together with the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester under the direction of Hans-Peter Hoffmann, he has recorded both Piazzolla's famous concert for bandoneon "Aconcagua" and Bach's harpsichord concertos 1 & 7. One thing was important to him in the realization of these works:

"With this music, a faithful musical text is presented; nothing was changed, no arrangements were made. I play the scores of Bach and Piazzolla 1:1 on the accordion, and the listener has the opportunity to experience works known to him in a different timbre. The instrument offers an incomparable charm with its singing ability and complexity. Just imagine: A wind instrument that plays polyphonically when inhaling and exhaling and lets the sound emerge in the air; a keyboard instrument that can phrase tones like strings with a bow, with two different manuals, over 500 notes, 20 sound registers and a musician who plays with all ten fingers and can breathe freely - this is the button accordion, it sings and breathes.".

This "breathing" can be heard after the first few bars. Probably Bach's most famous harpsichord concerto, the Concerto in D minor BWV 1052, sometimes seems almost mechanical and hasty in its original instrumentation. Through the melodious playing of the accordion, it suddenly seems like a Bach aria: full of coloratura and pauses to take a breath. This makes the realization of the two Bach works incredibly lively and worth listening to. "Since my first encounter with the music of Bach, a feeling of purity and trust for it has developed in me. At that time I was six years old and played the minuet in D minor. Over time I came to know its spiritual depth and heavenly height better, admired its beauty and above all its divinity. It is no secret: music is about God and man. With Bach, the entire work is very religious - you can hear this in every single note and in every pause. The very special spiritual depth of these works is certainly one of the most beautiful things you can experience as an artist in music".

The music of Astor Piazzolla, on the other hand, is characterized above all by the relationship between nature and man. The bandoneon concert "Aconcagua" is adventurous, romantic, melancholic, powerful, human and above all: versatile. The work, named after the highest mountain in South America, clearly reflects the play with the accordion in a pictorial way: one senses the story of a mountain ascent - heavy steps, cold ice under the feet, sharp rays of sunshine, short memories of love are the impressions that are triggered by listening to the work. Piazzolla could paint very well with music - and how could the highest mountain in Argentina be painted differently than with a tango?