Maskats: Accordion Concerto

Latvian composer Arturs Maskats (b. 1957) has been at the center of Latvian cultural life for decades, especially in the field of theater and opera. Besides operas, incidental music and film music, his catalogue of works includes several orchestral works and concertos, songs and choral works. This new album by the Latvian National Orchestra and conductor Andris Poga includes one of Maskats' latest creations in the field orchestral music: his Accordion Concerto (2021) here performed by his fellow Latvian, star-accordionist Ksenija Sidorova, one of the brightest names in classical music today.

Maskats' compositions are tonal, often romantic and cinematic, and marked by deep atmosphere. His international reputation largely rests on his Tango (2002), an award-winning work for symphony orchestra, which is also among the most-performed orchestral works by any Latvian composer. In 2022, the piece was also performed by the Wiener Philharmoniker and Andris Nelsons in the Summer Night Concert series in Schönbrunn. In essence, Maskats does to the tango something similar to what Ravel does to the waltz in his La Valse.

The Accordion Concerto, "What the Wind Told Over the Sea" (2021) was written for the accordionist Ksenija Sidorova. The work is dedicated to Sidorova who both inspired the creation of the music, and, to a certain degree, the title of the work. This work filled with deep longing depicts the Baltic Sea.