Wild & witty
New Zealand Listener|May 13 -20th, 2023
Classical accordionist James Crabb brings a concerto home.
RICHARD BETTS
Wild & witty

Accordions are naturally fascinating objects. They are hefty and you can push things and pull things and squeeze things, and they make loud noises, except when you get it wrong and they make wheezy noises.

James Crabb's father had a beautiful white example. With a keyboard down one side and buttons on the other it was tactile and supremely covetable.

"There was something about the care my father took when he put it down," recalls the younger Crabb, who performs Lyell Cresswell's accordion concerto Dragspil with the APO on May 18. "Here was something precious."

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