The New Sound in Accordion Playing (1963)
by Cesare Borgia

 "In  my opinion, and in the opinion of many leading musicians, Carmen Carrozza has been responsible for the elevation of the accordion as a concert instrument , to undreamed heights. His historical concert at Town Hall on May 6, 1962, will be long remembered as a milestone in the evaluation of the accordion as an instrument worthy of the concert stage." 

   "I first became interested in the accordion after having heard Mr. Carrozza play. At that time I met him Through friends casually, and he played a few selections on an instrument that was not his own. After a few minutes I forgot I was listening to an accordion, I just heard music, and  what music!  There was clarity, beautiful phrasing, tone color, dynamics that ranged from a forte to a mezzo forte and then to a piano, a pianissimo, and finally to a whisper. I heard inner voices such as I never heard before on an accordion. Dramatic passages suddenly melted into an exquisite lyricism, poetic, fragile, ethereal. Then the mood changed again, becoming darker in color, suggesting strange new emotions... and then a contrasting brightness and sunshine pervaded his playing evincing a warm suave bel canto that thrilled me to the very core by its sheer poetry and beauty. That evening I was breathing faster, and sitting at the edge of my chair, in sheer expectancy of what was to follow. Such was my experience in hearing Carmen Carrozza, master interpreter on the accordion."

   "The reader must not get the impression that Carrozza was the only accordionist I had heard. Being a violinist and conductor, certainly I had heard the accordion played many times before, But I was never to impressed. The emphasis always seemed to be on how loud and fast the instrument could be played with very little stress placed on the musical effects possible if the performer would take the trouble to produce them. There have been many excellent artists and technicians of the past who have contributed immensely to the growth of the instrument, and I’ am sure that Mr. Carrozza acknowledges his indebtedness to these pioneers without whom there certainly could not have been a Carmen Carrozza . However, it seems that history has left it to Mr. Carrozza to fill this unique task of breaking the existing barriers which have precluded the emergence of the accordion to it’s present glamorous position."

   "If the reader will look back in history, they will find similar occurrences in reference to other instruments; Chopin and Franz Liszt regarding the piano, and Paganini, the violin and Segovia, the Guitar . These artists utilized and exploited their instruments in a manner previously not realized. The same could be said of Carmen Carrozza."

   "The real secret of Carrozza’s artistry lies in the control of the bellows. In this aspect of accordion playing he is UNSURPASSED as yet. Let this be an eye opener to all accordionist who have been playing for years and who in spite of fast fingers and wonderful bellow shakes have reached a standstill in their careers where further progress seems impossible. Let them concentrate ALL their energies on the BELLOWS; and if they still persist after many disappointments, a wonderful new world will suddenly open up for them, with infinite possibilities."

   "Mr. Carrozza , once told me ... " when I’m playing a concerto, I’m very conscious of inner parts of the various orchestral instruments, their color, their phrasing, and as I play I strive to achieve these effects on the accordion. Obviously, an accordion can never sound like a french horn or an oboe or a violin, but the very attempt to think in terms of color, instrumental, vocal or orchestral, improves one’s sensitivity and enables one to do things with his "bellows" that he would otherwise never think of doing. For instance, try using your bellows a la Caruso, in other words try to stimulate bel canto. Listen to the phrasing of the great singer, noting all the subtle deviations of tone that he manifests... and then try to do the same thing on the accordion. Of course you can’t sound like a human voice, but you can learn an infinite number of tricks trying. I try very hard to make a difference between a piano and a pianissimo, yet still sing with the bellows. Anyone can play a fast run; but to make a controlled crescendo and diminuendo on that same run, sing at the same time, and play various accents also without distorting the rhythm ... then the trouble starts! So it isn’t so easy after all, is it?" Mr. Carrozza once told me that he spent two years of special study just on bellows, and has not stopped yet."

   "Edison once remarked that genus is 99% perspiration, and only 1% inspiration. Someone else defined a genius as a man who is willing to take infinite pains. How many of us do?"

   "What Carmen Carrozza does, has been, and is being done by every great artist the world over since the history of civilization. In a sense it’s nothing new... and in another sense it is always new, because only by this method can one initiate a search and arrive at new frontiers, which others call the New Sound."

    - The new sound in Accordion playing, 1963 by Cesare Borgia (violinist/Conductor)

      (Cesare Borgia  - is a former violinist with the Boston Pops Orchestra. In 1960, Sunday June 19, he appeared as guest  conductor with the Bridgeport Civic Symphony Orchestra, performing Paul Creston’s "Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra" with soloist Carmen Carrozza.)