Arturs Maskats: Accordion Concerto, Tango, Cantus diatonicus & My River Runs to Thee

Chronique

Composer Arturs Maskats is quite popular in his native Latvia, and conductor Andris Nelsons even programmed Maskats' Tango for orchestra at the Vienna Philharmonic's Summer Night Concert in 2022. He is considerably less well known elsewhere, but the Ondine label is attempting to change that with this release, featuring works from Maskats' thesis composition, Cantus Diatonicus (1982), to the early 2020s Accordion Concerto. Maskats' music is tonal but not quite neo-Romantic, with a cinematic quality said to have been influenced by his experience as a film and theater composer. Cantus Diatonicus, however, preceded that experience and has recognizably the same voice. The Tango, which does not include an accordion or bandoneon, is a peppy and attractive work, but the strongest thing on the album is the four-movement Accordion Concerto with the solo instrument of Ksenija Sidorova lurking moodily in the background and darting out periodically with virtuoso effusions. The Latvian National Symphony under Andris Poga provides restrained but lively backing for Sidorova, and its performances are clean and appealing throughout. One would be unlikely to guess the subject matter of the final My River Runs to Thee ("Homage to Emily Dickinson") without help from printed matter, but on balance, this is a highly enjoyable selection of music by a composer whom most non-Latvians will not know.
© James Manheim /TiVo