Canadian saxophonist David Zucchi and Spanish accordionist Iñigo Mikeleiz-Berrade offer a striking reimagining of Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin in this week’s featured video: the Prélude, arranged for saxophone and accordion.
The unlikely pairing of instruments proves unexpectedly natural. The saxophone’s vocal warmth blends with the accordion’s capacity for sustained colour and rhythmic articulation, giving Ravel’s neoclassical clarity a new, almost chamber-like transparency. The arrangement preserves the work’s elegance while adding a fresh timbral perspective — light, agile, and subtly playful.
The video was filmed by Will Coates-Gibson (foxbrush.co.uk), with recorded sound by Paul Baxter, capturing both the intimacy and brilliance of the duo’s interpretation.
This performance forms part of MZ Duo’s debut album, ContraDANCE (Delphian Records, 34361-CD), a programme rooted in rhythm and movement. Alongside their reimaginings of Ravel, Granados, and Bartók, the album includes two contemporary commissions: Aileen Sweeney’s The Mirrie Dancers and Alex Paxton’s Water Butt: lovers, snorkel. The result is a collection that moves between virtuosity and lyricism, revealing the expressive range of this distinctive partnership.
You can stream the full album here:
The video itself stands on its own: a refined and imaginative encounter between repertoire and instrumentation, offering a new lens on a familiar masterpiece.
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