3/9 2021 at Malmö Live!
MINNA WEURLANDER – MALMÖ SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, conductor INGAR BERGBY /(Nutida Pionjärer dubble concert) “… Weurlander is an incredibly skilled soloist. Sometimes you just have to accept that despite years of music consumption and concert running, you have no idea what potential an instrument has, as an accordion in this case. When Weurlander plays, the accordion seems to have endless amount of possibilities...” Skånska Dagbladet
3/9 2021 at Malmö Live!
MINNA WEURLANDER – MALMÖ SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA conductor INGAR BERGBY /(Nutida Pionjärer (Nutida Pionjärer dubble concert)) “…Weurlander is dazzling when she lets her accordion unfold long serpentines of luxurious timbre. Not least in “Karelia Lights”, where Finnish-Russian gunpowder and Latin American fire explode in a star rain…” Dagens Nyheter
Minna Weurlander-solo “…Oh my, I usually tend to find suitable headlines for reviews but this was a tough one. Excellent, breathtaking, amazing, strange, unbelievable…” SRD
Minna Weurlander-soloaccordion “She plays so tight and varied that her accordion sounds like a full orchestra. But only when it is played by the right set of hands, like accordionist Minna Weurlanders.” SvD
Minna Weurlander-solo “She plays music that lives, bubbles and constantly moves. Sydsvenska Dagbladet
Minna Weurlander-solo “…Rarely have dazzling lights and comforting darkness united as in Weurlander’s embrace…”Sällan har bländande ljus och tröstande mörker förenats som i Weurlanders famn…” Kvällsposten
Circus Days and Nights by Philip Glass “….The circus tinge to Glass’ score, which is written for a small ensemble and a dramatic accordionist, Minna Weulander, brings to mind the composer’s early studies with French composer Darius Milhaud, and especially Milhaud’s popular surrealist Cocteau ballet score, “Le Boeuf sur le Toit” (The Ox on the Roof). The Paris premiere featured circus clowns…” Los Angeles Times
Circus Days and Nights by Philip Glass “…I had not intended to single anyone out, yet I find I must give special mention to one person: the sensitive and intense Minna Weurlander, who leads the seven-member orchestra from her accordion…” Swedish Radio
Circus Days and Nights by Philip Glass “…Glass´s music, performed beautifully under conductor Minna Weurlander´s wing is hypnotic…” The upcoming UK
Circus Days and Nights by Philip Glass “…Circular moments are also present in Glass´s music, through characteristic, minimalistic repetitions, where small, almost imperceptible variations constantly alter the phrasing. Brilliantly, the accordionist Minna Weurlander leads the small circus orchestra…” Svenska Dagbladet
Circus Days and Nights by Philip Glass “…Playing music is like riding a unicycle. But the show’s musicians have their tongues in their mouths. They do not tip over, and with Minna Weurlander on accordion, a sound that is perfect for Glass and circus is ensured…Politiken DK
Circus Days and Nights by Philip Glass “…lead by accordionist Minna Weurlander, the fabulous instrumental septet sets the opera going…” Adventures in music
Circus Days and Nights by Philip Glass “…The melancholy of vagabonding is absorbed by the orchestra’s center, the accordion, the poor people´s orchestra, the symphony of the street, magnificently offered up by the ensemble leader and accordionist Minna Weurlander…”/ Vagabonderandets melankoli sugs upp av orkesterns centrum, dragspelet, fattigt folks orkester, gatans symfoniker, magnifikt trakterad av kapellmästaren och accordeonisten Minna Weurlander…” Expressen
Circus Days and Nights by Philip Glass “…his stubborn, repetitive, but also light-hearted tones are carried here mainly by an accordion, brilliantly performed by the conductor Minna Weurlander. The accordion so beautifully connects the worlds with Glass-like loops and force fields…” Kristianstadsbladet
Circus Days and Nights by Philip Glass “…The image of Minna Weurlander dangling with red tights and an accordion in her arms could have been made by René Magritte as an attempt to paint sounding soap bubbles…” Sydsvenskan
Circus Days and Nights by Philip Glass “…The accordion was brilliant, bringing the voices of melancholy in repetitive passages, fragments that in some places irresistibly resembled Bach’s organ works, cabaret music, music that “belly” (in the circus often with clown gags), where the accordion joins in the foreground…” Vreme (Serbia)
Movie score “The Ape Star/Apstjärnan” – Tania Naranjo and Minna WeurlanderIt’s not often that you hear any meaningful amount of accordion in film music, let alone hear it dominate a score. This makes Apstjärnan a true rarity. Tania Naranjo and Minna Weurlander’s score for this Swedish language Scandinavian co-production is inspired, an endless source of energy and whimsy bolstered by its novel instrumentation. Weurlander (the band master and accordionist in Philip Glass’s upcoming Circus Days and Nights world premiere in Malmö) brings a bouncing vibrancy that Naranjo balances (and amplifies) with her delicate piano work. Though the intercontinental duo (Naranjo is Chilean while Weurlander is Finnish) have released several albums together, this is their first foray into film composing, but hopefully not their last!
”GLOW” Weurlander & Pomona String Quartet “…never before I had to pause in the middle of a song to catch my breath. Wonderfull!…/”…Weurlander med kvartett tolkar kompositioner av argentinarna Piazzolla och Saúl Cosentino (Piazzollas adept) samt sånger av Kurt Weill, blandat med Weurlanders egna kompositioner. Musiken går rakt in i hjärteroten och skakar om på ett intensivt härligt vis. Kurt Weills Tango-Habanera och Tango-Ballad i arrangemang av Weurlander och samtliga skivans Saúl Cosentino-kompositioner spelas genomgående med sådan glöd att passionen blir till en vällustig och samtidigt nästan fysiskt smärtsam lyssnarupplevelse. Har väl aldrig tidigare behövt pausa mitt i en låt för att hämta andan! Underbart…” LIRA
ACCORDION-dance production ”…The accordion is played, banged and sampled live on stage with awesome finger equilibrium. Included is a passion for tango, waltz and folk dance as well as the admonishing monolithic new compositions of Jakob Brandt-Pedersen. Minna Weurlander is something of a high priestess of death as she sits with her long legs covered in a black and white or rose-patterned body stocking and with a long-necked ribbed ruff and strappy high heeled boots…” Weekendavisen DK
ACCORDION-dance production “…There is a battle between life and death in Anders Christiansen’s new work, Accordion, where the veteran soloist performs a graceful duet with the excellent Finnish accordion player, Minna Weurlander. Both the dancer’s and instrument’s bodies breathe deeply in this image-rich dance performance. The white-faced Christiansen in his ruff, harks back to characters such as Pierrot, the mournful Petrusjka, the marionette Pinocchio, and echoes the renaissance and the clergy. …High-quality theatre with a good dialogue between music and dance.” Berlingske DK
”RESPEKT”– dance production for 5 women with sticks, chairs and gaffa tape.“César Franck’s music roars with virtuosity from Minna Weurlander’s accordion as a prelude to Anders Christiansen’s new dance piece Respekt at Dansescenen. And great respect for the lovely Finnish musician who has also performed in earlier works by Anders Christiansen.“…The fifth is the Finnish accordion player Minna Weurlander. Wrapped up in mummy-like, frayed clothes, with bare legs like the four other women, she makes one think of the graceful excess of the flesh with her instrument. The muscle behind the skin knows nothing of what it produces. Whether it makes steel rollers, dance, or a winding melody, it works patiently together with the muscles around it. It is the mere pleasure of this sight we are to experience. Slow down, Christiansen seems to say, and turn the aesthetic sensuality up, up high. Jyllandsposten
“ACCORDION” Concept, choreography and dance: Anders Christiansen
Accordion: Minna Weurlander”…The performance’s musical focal point is the Finnish accordion player, Minna Weurlander, who is a superb co-actor on stage. With her compact physical presence, she drags all manner of sounds out of her instrument, and supplies a strongly poetic accompanying universe that ranges from a hissing iron lung to a reverberating religious organ and from panic-stricken pumping arteries to a whistling, weightless glider. Minna Weurlander is something of a high priestess of death as she sits with her long legs covered in a black and white or rose-patterned body stocking and with a long-necked ribbed ruff and strappy high heeled boots. Jyllandsposten
“Still Life”- dance production The enchanting musical centre of it all is Minna Weurlander who, dressed in a sailor’s dress and heavily tattooed for the occasion, entertains with her exquisite accordion playing…” Berlingske Tidende (DK)
“En stor vid hund”- dance production ”…The grandmaster of minimalism, Anders Christiansen, is venturing right out to the edge with his highly visual solos in Kanonhallen. …Only the dancer in a white dress over black underwear with sport socks and brown leather shoes together with a fascinating Finnish accordionist, Minna Weurlander, in the highest heels ever. The man disappears and re-appears, he almost isn’t there, just as the music almost isn’t music, and the choreography almost isn’t dance…” Information (DK)
Duo Naranjo-Weurlander INFINITY“…Duo’s debut album, Entwined, received great reviews and resulted tours and musical collaborations with theaters, radio, film and symphony orchestras worldwide. The swedish-based duo, with chilean pianist Tania Naranjo and the accordionist Minna Weurlander, from finland, is now continuing their interlased music creation with great intensity into the next album, Infinity, which is as infinitely challenging and cross-border as the title suggests…”Lira Music Magazine
Duo Naranjo-Weurlander “…Rythmical attics along with melancholic melodies combine to create unique atmosphere. The piano and accordion coalesces as they were one instrument. Only in the performances of Marcel Azzolla and Lina Bosatti we have heard something as fine as this…” Accordion Institute FI
FRIDA K “Accordeonisten Minna Weurlander fungerar inte bara som musiker utan som en karaktär i sig. Med sitt instrument blir hon en motröst, en kör och en språngbräda in i berättelsen. Samspelet mellan Weurlander och Bogazzi är fint balanserat men inte utan temprament. Det är tillsammans de gestaltar Frida Kahlo, och inte som ackompanjatör och recitatör.”
”FRIDA K”(teater)“Nadja Bogazzi ÄR Frida Kahlo…I en egensinnig dans som böljar fram och tillbaka mellan rusig livsglädje och tungsinne, bitterhet och ren fysisk smärta lyckas hon fånga Kahlos mångbottnade person på ett sätt man knappast väntar sig av en tidsmässig anspråkslös liten tvåaktare… poetiskt, tätt och suggestivt. Den enkla och rättframma texten smälter samman med Marta Cicionesis smått geniala scenografi och Minna Weurlanders underbara accordeonmusik, och resultatet blir en närmast häpnadsväckande klockren tonträff…” Skånska Dagbladet
Duo Naranjo-Weurlander INFINITY“…In their skilled hands the combination of piano and accordion is very fine and interesting. The piano’s impact sound and the singing of the melodious accordion contrasts each other, and they melt together astonishingly beautifully..” Finnish Accordion Institute
Duo Naranjo-Weurlander“… The two musicians are exquisitely skilled instrumentalists and they convey their music forward with deftness … alternating heavyness and sharpness and indicating certain sadness …” Orkesterjournalen
Duo Naranjo-Weurlander INFINITY” …Fine performances and interesting ideas.…it´s in moments when the fire or pathos of tango come to the surface that it gets nearest to taking flight…With its closing drama of pounding piano and high-piches accordion, is enjoyably dramatic…” Songline Magazine
Duo Naranjo-Weurlander “…The musical dialogue between Minna and Tania is total and it is renewed in some way every time you hear it…” Woodwind News
MINNA WEURLANDER 