DIGITAL ACCORDION ‘NOT NERDY,’ SAYS ONE HALF OF AMAZING BRIDGE AND WOLAK DUO, ON SUNDAY AT OPERA HOUSE
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
GRAVENHURST — You know it’s going to be a great concert when Kim and Neil Barlow recommend Bridge and Wolak.
Muskoka’s pre-eminent musicians say the clarinet and accordion duo are a “not to be missed” at the Muskoka Concert Association’s ‘Scandalous Romantics’ performance Sunday afternoon — 2 p.m. at the Gravenhurst Opera House.
Even TVO’s Steve Paikin was singing their praises in an interview in which he described their playful brilliance as “indefinable.”
Michael Bridge and Kornel Wolak are “sensational and breath-taking,” said Paikin who was tapping along during the interview (see it here).
That’s three recommendations you have to respect from the Bifocals conductor and her husband who conducted the Muskoka Concert Band for years and now leads the Orillia Silver Band.
And they’re spot on, says MCA president Dianne Harrop.
Together the duo — who flipped a coin for top billing — are energetic and entertaining. Two better adjectives to describe them.
Bridge plays a Bugari Evo digital accordion, which is unlike the traditional Walter Ostanek Oktoberfest version that has a piano keyboard. He switched from keys to digital at age 16.
It’s definitely not an “uncool” or “nerdy” instrument, says Bridge, adding younger generations today don’t associate or identify with previous famous players like Lawrence Welk and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
He says the 25-pound bellows belcher is like an advanced synthesizer. On one hand it starts out sounding like a church organ and ends with a soaring Eddie Van Halen guitar riff on the other.
Wolak is arguably the best clarinet player in the country many agree. And a circular breather to boot — allowing him to play lengthy complicated, red-faced passages.
The former Quarteto Gilato member is an immigrant whose studies have taken him from Poland to Prague to Paris, NYC and most recently to Toronto where he studied with the Toronto Symphony’s principle clarinetist.
He’s now associate professor of clarinet at Queen’s University.
“We’re 100 per cent live,” says Wolak, “no background.”
Together the duo — who “flipped a coin” for top name billing — met through a mutual teacher and say they complement each other technically, in their business handling and mostly with their musical and whimsical temperaments.
Bach is a favourite composer, which led to their first album “Bach Rock.”
Though Sunday you’ll hear bits of Benny Goodman’s big band and the gorgeous gliss of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” along with many contemporary nods.
Bridge says the classical master is a perfect fit for them as they play with various genres of sounds while also “not respecting musical boundaries.”
“Bach was a master borrower,” like many composers 400 years ago, adds Wolak. “He often requoted himself.”
As an example of their virtuosity in the TVO interview, they played their take on “the prelude to the first cello solo suite by Bach,” which had Paikin tapping his hand along on his knee.
Bridge and Wolak are on a Canadian leg of a North American tour that saw them on Rhode Island and in Minnesota earlier this month, before playing Gravenhurst Oct. 20, followed by Richmond Hill Oct. 26 and Burlington Oct. 27.
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