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Item Description:

Celebrated Polkas, Volume 1 from The Complete Works of Pietro Deiro
Henry Doktorski, accordion

Compact Disc.
21 tracks.
Total Time: 63:13.
Includes 8-page printed CD booklet
Released 2006

Forbidden (Proibita) Polka
Pyramid Polka
Paradise Polka
Celestina Polka
Holiday (Festival) Polka
Mother’s Clock Polka
Teresina Polka
Twinkle Toe Polka
Caresse Polka
Rhapsody Polka
Polish Polka
Russian Polka
Bells of Salto
Polka Bohemienne
Briosa Polka
Jubilee Polka
Aida Polka
Tilba Polka
La Cerilla (The Bird)
Pasta Fagioli
Vivacity Polka

This CD features the 21 polkas of Pietro Deiro.

Collector's items. Truly a welcome addition to any music library.


Pietro Deiro (1888-1954) is considered one of the greatest and most influential accordionists of the first half of the twentieth century. Born in Salto, Italy, he immigrated to the United States in 1907, and in 1908 began to play the diatonic button-accordion professionally at a saloon in Seattle, Washington.

That same year Pietro’s older brother Guido (already an accomplished piano-accordionist in Europe) also immigrated to the United States, and there in Seattle he taught Pietro how to play the piano-accordion. Guido was a sensation and became a vaudeville star in 1910. Pietro, recognizing a good thing, followed in his brother’s footsteps, and also became a celebrity on the vaudeville circuit at least by 1912. He earned up to $500 per week: a phenomenal income in those days.

One contemporary 1921 newspaper reviewer praised Pietro’s musicianship: “What Paderewski is to the piano, Spalding to the violin, and Hans Kronol to the cello, Pietro is to the piano-accordeon. This man takes this instrument, which recently has attained a dignified standing among musicians, and gives it a human voice, a voice that is alive with joy, and dragged down to the depths of sorrow.”

Pietro recorded 78 RPM records for Victor and Decca: a total of 147 sides during his career, beginning in 1912. Amazingly, Pietro enjoyed a flourishing recording career even during the Great Depression—a remarkable achievement, considering the doldrums the record industry was in at the time. Pietro dominated the solo accordion category in Victor’s 1930 Italian catalog with a full eighteen sides (Pietro Frosini could only muster ten).

When the vaudeville industry began to decline, Pietro—a shrewd businessman—established a music studio in 1928 in Greenwich Village, New York, which attracted so many students that he had to hire a staff of professional teachers. Eventually he established a chain of accordion studios on the East coast.

Recognizing early on that his students needed sheet music, Pietro established the music publishing firm Accordion Music Publishing Company (AMPCO), later known simply as Pietro Deiro Publications. Pietro composed over 200 original works for the accordion and arranged countless other pieces.

Pietro was popular and influential. He appeared as a regular columnist for general music publications such as The Etude and Metronome magazines, and he participated prominently in the main accordion journals of the 1930s and 1940s such as Accordion World and Accordion News. He published his own newsletter called The Pietro Musicordion, he produced his own radio show, and he established a record company devoted to the accordion: AMPCO Records.

In 1936 Italian accordion manufacturers presented him with a parchment scroll and gold plaque for his contributions toward the advancement of the instrument. Pietro was one of the founding members of the American Accordionists’ Association (created on March 9, 1938), and was elected the association’s first president by the board.

One modern scholar, Peter Muir, explained: “He [Pietro] effectively became the premiere accordionist in America, a sort of legendary father-figure whose status was embodied by his nickname ‘The Daddy of the Accordion,’ which he carefully cultivated from early in the decade [beginning in 1930].”

REVIEWS

THE FREE-REED REVIEW

I must admit that when I returned to the accordion after being away from it for almost 40 years, I thought I would never play a polka. I felt that the polka limited both the image and the potential of the accordion. Before long, though, I found myself playing polkas because they are fun.


The polkas presented here by Doktorski are both interesting and fun. Each has its own personality, and Henry brings all of his classical training and finesse into play to bring their personalities to life.

I must admit that my favorite is the Celestina Polka. Someone once said that nobody has done for the polka what Astor Piazzolla did for the tango. While that is true, I think that Henry's interpretation of the Celestina Polka is a step in that direction. People complained that one could not dance to a Piazzolla tango. Well, one could not dance to the Celestina Polka either. It plays --in fact toys-- with the tempo and breaks the polka mold.

As mentioned above, Doktorski brings his classical training to the interpretation of these polkas. His phrasing is a delight and his choice of registrations add variety to the selections. I look forward to the release of "The Complete Works of Pietro Deiro Volume 2".


Robert Stead
Detroit, Michigan

POLISH AMERICAN JOURNAL

When I began accordion lessons my grandfather called the accordion a squeezebox and my early renditions of polka melodies were often done without music charts and usually in the key of "C."

Using the term squeezebox when writing about Henry Doktorski's latest CD, The Complete Works of Pietro Deiro, Volume 1: Celebrated Polkas, is almost sacrilegious. Doktorski's mastery of the instruments, dedication to musical perfection, and complexity of melody and bass interpretations makes me appreciate my uncle's (my accordion teacher) work trying to make me a true accordionist.

Doktorski's interpretation of this 18 track collection of Pietro Deiro produces everything from a march tempo on Forbidden Polka, to the magical fingering of Rhapsody Polka, to the short and simple lines of Polish Polka.

Pyramid Polka highlights Doktorski's combination of bass and right-hand combinations to give the song its own identity and demonstrates both quality of timing and excellence of musicianship. In several selections the listener can revel in the unique aspect of a stand-alone performance, reminiscent of a time when accordionists would be on a theater stage as a solo act, amazing the audience with their music and skill.

Henry Doktorski's career accomplishments fill pages. . . . With all this and more to his credit, there is one basic concept that surfaces after listening to this recording by this accordion great. Henry Doktorski loves music and enjoys sharing it with you, the listener, his audience.


Steve Litwin
Polka Editor/Associate Editor
Polish American Journal
World Concertina Congress Hall of Fame inductee - 2004
Buffalo, New York

POLKA JAMMER NETWORK
Hello Henry:
I received your CD and played it on my LIVE show last night. I wanted to let you know that I had quite a response from my listeners. I'll be more than happy to play any future releases you send me.


Jim Kucharski
Program Director

POLKA JAMMER NETWORK
All I can say is WOW!!!

Andy Citkowicz
Host of "Polka Party"

24-7 POLKA HEAVEN
Henry, very impressive performance and CD. I will feature it and two other new releases on my Monday evening 9 p.m. Eastern time program, next Monday March 27. Very nice music. Thanks for sending it to me. I'm sure our audience will enjoy it.

Ray Zalokar
Program Director

HÅKAN WIDAR
Halland, Sweden
Your playing is really very clear and you really make a fine contribution to preserving the old accordionmasters. I am looking forward to future volumes of Pietros playing.

From the Seller

Dear eBay Customer,

Thank you for your business. I hope you enjoy your bidding and shopping on eBay. Please visit my eBay Store for many more interesting items.

Sincerely,

 

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