The accordion evokes a wonderful nostalgia for me. It takes me back to my undergrad years at the Oberlin Conservatory (where I met my wife!). I had the good fortune of befriending Michael Pisani, who later became assistant conductor of the Houston Grand Opera. Michael was a super accordionist—he played his own arrangement of Mozart’s Figaro Overture at breakneck speed, or the last movement of Brahms’s Violin Concerto, covering the orchestra and the soloist parts on his accordion.
We were poor music students, and Michael and I were lucky enough to land a strolling restaurant job at the Oberlin Inn. While people were eating their roast beef or pasta dinners, Michael and I would serenade them, he on the accordion and myself on the violin. We played our own arrangements of Strauss waltzes, some Kreisler showpieces (imagine the Praeludium and Allegro with those opening chords on the accordion—it’s fantastic!), and even popular stuff—the movie Young Frankenstein had just come out, and the music was great for that kind of swooning crooning stuff that one expects in strolling dining territory.
Of course, the accordion has had its fair (or unfair!) share of jokes leveled at it. “I’ve always wanted to play the accordion badly, and now I do,” or “Play the accordion and go to jail—that’s the law.” But we must take these in stride, and put ’em next to all those viola jokes, drummer jokes, singer jokes, and yes, conductor jokes.
Fast forwarding to the present, I am simply awed by our guest soloist this week. Peter Soave is a true virtuoso—the National Accordion Association calls him “The Great One.” He has mastered Max Simončič’s Accordion Concerto. It’s an exciting world premiere—a novel addition to the repertoire.
And here’s the thing: Peter’s accordion doesn’t have any piano keys, both sides are entirely button-operated. It’s fascinating to watch, and to listen to. Peter really isn’t just kiddin’ on the keys!
