Take Grieg’s Lyric Pieces on the accordion, add a space cadet title, and you’ve got a gimmick with a capital “G”. Which means a big “N” for “no thanks!” Or so I thought. As it turns out, the melodic charm and rustic sensibility that characterize Grieg’s piano miniatures sound terrific on the instrument. Anitra’s Dance from Peer Gynt really rocks, while the upbeat March of the Trolls and Puck practically begs for the rest of the Klezmer band to join in. Slow, sustained numbers convey a unique intensity by virtue of the accordion’s capacity for crescendos and diminuendos on a single note or chord (once you strike a note on the piano, of course, that’s it). It helps that Mie Miki’s performances are virile, direct, and free of sentimentality. My only quibble concerns fast passages that get lost in the fog of BIS’s roomy, overly resonant sonics, and Miki does tend to race through finger twisters such as the famous Butterfly (Op. 43 No. 1). I guess that’s because Miki, according to her booklet notes, “became the butterfly!” Delightful stuff. [11/28/2007]
