CD. Duo Diagonal: "Incontri"

"At a glance a peculiar instrument combination, yet perhaps not. (...) especially Couperin’s "Simphonie de Clavecins" is full of enthusiasm and a drive that is a joy to listen to."

Jens Sparrevohn Rønn, Musikeren, July 2008

"What a meeting!
What is the relation between the Baroque harpsichord and the modern accordion? Nothing, right? But there you are quite mistaken. A CD with the musicians Anka Zlateva and Adam Ørvad proves that not only can the instruments share the same room, indeed exciting and enthralling music ensues from the meeting. In Baroque music for two harpsichords by for instance Couperin and Mattheson it is fine to let one be replaced by accordion.
Naturally there are but few original compositions for the duo, but those recorded by Leonid Bashmakov and Timme Ørvad displays a range of fascinating tones and possible combinations. And Anka Zlateva’s arrangement of two pieces for piano by the Bulgarian composer Pancho Vladigerov have a tangible encore quality. Both musicians are very talented and the entire recording has a wonderful presence to it."

Ole Straarup, Århus Stiftstidende, May 2008

Concert, Duo Diagonal at "Easter Festival and Contemporary Chamber Music", Sofia

"At the first glance, the combination of the typical Baroque harpsichord and the correspondingly newer accordion seems impossible. By a gradual revelation of the wealth of tonal possibilities of the accordion, approaching certain organs with regard to registers, tonal range and timbre (opr. tembre), one is made aware of the similarity between the accordion and the other with the Baroque associated instrument, the organ. In an exotic, bordering on the perverse, manner, the concurrency unite the religious and the temporal in Baroque music, presented through the organ and the harpsichord. These connections permit the programme with Baroque music (arranged for harpsichord and accordion) and modern works."

Ilija Gramatikov & Nikolaj Kolev, Altera, April 2007


(...) these two are both wonderful professionals, who provoke the genesis of new pieces or arrangements of old (...)

Natalija Ilieva, Kultura, April 2007