The question you have to ask yourself when confronted with this disc called Butterflies and Illusions, a collection of accordion arrangements of works by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, isn't how much do you like the concept -- the March of the Trolls played on the accordion is inevitably going to sound like the March of the Trolls played on the accordion -- the question is how well the concept is executed. When the accordion player is Japanese virtuoso Mie Miki, the answer is brilliantly, with panache and aplomb. However ...
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The question you have to ask yourself when confronted with this disc called Butterflies and Illusions, a collection of accordion arrangements of works by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, isn't how much do you like the concept -- the March of the Trolls played on the accordion is inevitably going to sound like the March of the Trolls played on the accordion -- the question is how well the concept is executed. When the accordion player is Japanese virtuoso Mie Miki, the answer is brilliantly, with panache and aplomb. However you feel about the concept of Grieg on the accordion, you would have to be deaf not to hear the poetry in Miki's "Little Bird" from Lyric Pieces III, the charm in her "Grandmother's Minuet" from Lyric Pieces IX, the atmosphere in her "Spring Dance" from 25 Norwegian Folk-Songs and Dances, and the daredevil recklessness in her "Puck" from Lyric Pieces X. And whether or not you come to prefer the doleful "The Death of Ase" from Peer Gynt on the accordion to the orchestral original, you...
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