“I have a feeling that Arthur wrote this concert, really thinking about my playing! I really like the technical places, but even more – the beautiful melodies, that’s why I wanted a piece from Arthur, because I knew that harmonies and melodies are his thing. “Arthur has worked on this work so personally… (..) In the first rehearsal, while the orchestra was playing, I knew – the whole concert is beautiful,” says the world – famous accordionist Ksenia Sidorova about Arthur Muscat ‘s new concert, written especially for her. Tonight, it will experience the world premiere of a large concert of Latvian symphonic music in the reading of Ksenija, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and Andris Poga. The listeners of “Klasikas” will be the first to enjoy this event.
Maruta Rubeze: You have already developed a close relationship with the music of Arthur Muscat, and Arthur says – it was your wish – to get this concert from him.
Ksenia Sidorova: That’s right! As an accordionist, as an artist, I feel it as a mission of my life – to bring the word accordion into the world in capital letters: to have a new repertoire, to have more composers write for this instrument and to be interested in it. Let it sound on a serious stage with serious musicians. And I am glad that the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra has staged such a work and has taken this path with me.
The name of this concert is very poetic. It conjures up such associations … Wind, accordion bellows, wind across the sea …
It is. When Arthur first sent the notes, he suggested – it shouldn’t just be called a concert, it sounds too dry, and we had such a “zoom session”… From the beginning, three years ago, the composer had an idea for something Spanish, but then he still says – no, it is the Baltics. And I’m totally in favor of it – it sounds like our sea, our amber shine. This is a very beautiful and nostalgic concert. And for me as an immigrant, it’s somehow very close to my soul. I like that sometimes when an orchestra is playing and I’m sitting in the center of it, literally ants run from that sound – from the way the sound embraces me.
How often have you ever embraced the sounds of an orchestra lately, and how do you feel about concert life right now?
On a solemn day like this, I don’t even want to think about the reality around us. I think it was hard for all the artists. Some harder than others. Some concerts are not available online. I had a couple of gigs. I am very glad that I had time to be with my daughter – it was positive. Of course, a lot has been canceled, plans have been changed, and I hope that we will restore it all. But one thing we are already seeing is that everything has changed. Some new life has started, and I don’t know if it will ever be the same again – I think not. There will be new formats, but I would very much like it to remain professional – I watch people work, how musicians in the orchestra want to play and try more. Musicians long for music, it is for us how to eat, how to breathe.
Latvia – Spain. Spain – Latvia. How do you feel about that?
I still don’t know how successful this bridge has been for me. It’s been four years since my husband and I moved from London to Spain. Now we have a family, we are in threes. When I’m there, I feel pretty Spanish. Much turned out to be different than I had previously imagined. I used to think differently about the Spaniards, but real life there is a little different from our ideas – in the case of Spain, we think more about Andalusia, chestnuts, flamenco. Madrid is very different – it is a megalopolis, but not as international as London. I can say that it is a very Spanish city. For example, northern Spain is very different and very close to the Baltics.
I am still adjusting to life there and for the time being I long for home. My husband also really likes Latvia, he likes to come here whenever he has the opportunity. We were lucky last summer – we were here for three months! It literally opened our eyes like a new one – how beautiful nature we have, good food that is not so common elsewhere in the world. How different people are, but I also like it.
If we think of the Spaniards as being open, that is not really the case at all. Our people are a bit introverted, self-directed, reserved, but if it opens up, it’s 100% …
You are one of the musicians who allowed and invited you to love the accordion in the Baltics and Europe. Thank you very much for that! But how is it in Spain? Maybe there’s an international version of the accordion?
The accordion is also a Spanish folk instrument. Unfortunately, I didn’t play as much there as I would like – the music environment there is different than elsewhere in Europe. But the accordion also has its place there, as do the contemporary music artists who work a lot with the young Spanish composers and carry that music and the name of the accordion further. This instrument is loved and known in Spain. When I tell someone I’m playing the accordion, they say yes, my grandmother or someone else has played it too. Even today you can meet people who love it.
Usually violinists are asked – what master instrument do you play? Or does the accordion have its own outstanding masters?
Yes, violinists have Stradives, and everyone knows him right away. It’s not quite with the accordion. My model is from the Italian manufacturer Pigini, founded 75 years ago. They are one of the greatest experimenters, always working on a tool, always changing it, introducing something new, and that is what helps them to be the first in their field. They are currently the number one company that produces accordions.
The harp may break the string. For piano – pedal is stuck. What can happen to an accordion?
Tpu, tpu, tpu (laughs). Everything can happen with an accordion – a button can stay inside printed. This is normal if something happens to the instrument. It also needs to be tuned. For example, I would have to do the tuning that is needed every two years now – it depends on how many concerts are played and how often they are played, for example, with an orchestra, because then the sound is a little louder – created with more power. You just have to go through a test like a man at the doctor’s. It would be good once a year, but I haven’t got to go to the tuner yet, because he is in the north of Spain. It is not a thing available in every city.
How much new, contemporary music is in your repertoire? How do you feel that way?
A good word – how I feel … If I want to introduce something new to my repertoire, sometimes it’s a change, sometimes – something new is written: if I really like it, I learn it. If a composer wants to write something, we talk about how we miss the repertoire. From time to time, something new is sent out, so I have something new in my repertoire all the time, and I really like it, really. There are new composers who are inspired by the accordion – I have never even met them in my life, but there is a lot of information on the Internet on how to get to this person faster.
For many you are an unforgettable Carmen. Like Elīna Garanča, she can play countless roles, but many still perceive her as Carmen. How do you feel about this new work by Arthur Muscat? Who are you in this story?
I feel like he wrote it, really thinking about my playing! I really like technical places, but even more so – beautiful melodies, that’s why I wanted a piece from Arthur, because I knew that harmonies and melodies were his thing. He has come to my concerts and somehow written this work so organically that I hope – other accordionists will also play it and take an interest in it. I am sure it will continue to live. I very much hope to play its premiere elsewhere, and I wish young people to take it too.
Arthur has worked on this job so personally… It was not so easy for him – I know how long it took to write, how long it was for both him and me to wait.
I didn’t know how it would be until the last moment … But in the first rehearsal, while the orchestra was playing, I knew – the whole concert is beautiful.
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