Wouldn't you have loved to have been there?!

[Ffingers]

Amsterdam concert:




Again, the accordion blending in well with other instruments and singers (see other clips for the singing)

 

[debra]

The title doesn't show the absolute dreadful weather at this concert. I was glad I could watch it from the comfort of my living room.
The "Prinsengrachtconcert" (played and watched on one of the canals in Amsterdam) is a yearly event.
It tends to be a really nice concert. This year I didn't like most of the music that was played. The role of the accordion (played by the outstanding player Ksenia Sidorova) was not substantial and it didn't sound too well either. (Her role was often to play just rather high notes.)

 

[dak]

Again, the accordion blending in well with other instruments and singers (see other clips for the singing)

The role of the accordion (played by the outstanding player Ksenia Sidorova) was not substantial and it didn't sound too well either. (Her role was often to play just rather high notes.)

Those things are not unrelated. The high notes don't have all that many overtones within human hearing, so the comparatively harsh (or "rich", depending on your view) overtone structure of an accordion does not dominate the ensemble sound. Cassotto is one tool to tame the overtones but it doesn't by far have as strong an effect as the bore and shape and resonance (so strong that it actually determines the pitch to a degree where you need holes and valves to change the resonance) of woodwind and brass instruments.

The quoted video makes for a well-working ensemble sound. Yes, the accordion is underselling its strengths, but its strengths (wide-range polyphony in a compact continuous-tone instrument) really pay off more in a solistic setting than in a group.

 

[Ffingers]

The title doesn't show the absolute dreadful weather at this concert. I was glad I could watch it from the comfort of my living room.
The "Prinsengrachtconcert" (played and watched on one of the canals in Amsterdam) is a yearly event.
It tends to be a really nice concert. This year I didn't like most of the music that was played. The role of the accordion (played by the outstanding player Ksenia Sidorova) was not substantial and it didn't sound too well either. (Her role was often to play just rather high notes.)

Well, Paul, judging from the audience participation on other videos from this concert, getting soaked with rain did not seem to bethe 'dampener' that one might have expected.
My take was that the blending in with, rather than fronting, the ensemble was done rather well by Ms. Sidorova.
Not playing the 'prima donna' at every opportunity is, to me, the sign of a genuine musician; one who plays for the music, not for the accolades.

 

[debra]

Well, Paul, judging from the audience participation on other videos from this concert, getting soaked with rain did not seem to bethe 'dampener' that one might have expected.
My take was that the blending in with, rather than fronting, the ensemble was done rather well by Ms. Sidorova.
Not playing the 'prima donna' at every opportunity is, to me, the sign of a genuine musician; one who plays for the music, not for the accolades.

People listening and watching from the (small) boats tend to bring enough wine to enjoy the experience no matter what the weather is. Especially in between the songs video was shot from further away (to give nice overview shots) and then you could clearly tell it was coming down in bucketloads. I wasn't bothered by the weather (sitting in my dry living room) or by the small role the accordion played (just enough to hear that it needed a tuning job) but mostly by the choice of music. The piece by Piazzolla was kinda nice. The well-known Adagio by Marcello is also a baroque favorite. The rest of the concert just wasn't my taste, but that didn't prevent other people from enjoying the concert.

 

[Pipemajor]

The title doesn't show the absolute dreadful weather at this concert.

That may explain why the soprano sax player appeared to be wearing wellies under her trousers

 

[jozz]

I was watching live - the weather was ridiculous
a really good job on part of the sound engineers, that managed to squeeze this out of 'unfavorable' conditions
the sound of the rainfall all around must have been a nightmare