Elementuak
Jesús Guridi: Ezpata-dantza (Amaya)
14,95€
ELEMENTUAK marks the debut album of Expressio Duo, the Basque accordion partnership of Maria Zubimendi and Garazi Navas. Conceived as a journey across three centuries of music, the programme explores the art of transcription as a creative dialogue between past and present, revealing the extraordinary expressive range of the modern accordion. From the refined elegance of the French Baroque to the evocative sound world of early 20th-century Basque nationalism, ELEMENTUAK highlights the instrument’s versatility in repertoire originally conceived for orchestra and keyboard. Works by Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau unfold with clarity, colour and rhythmic vitality, while Jean-Féry Rebel’s visionary Le Cahos from Les Élémens acquires striking modern intensity through the duo’s rich harmonic textures and dynamic control.
14,95€
ELEMENTUAK
Expressio Duo – Maria Zubimendi & Garazi Navas
Un viaje sonoro desde el Barroco francés hasta el alma musical vasca, reinventado en la poderosa expresividad de un dúo de acordeones.
IBS Classical presenta ELEMENTUAK, el primer trabajo discográfico de Expressio Duo, formado por las acordeonistas vascas Maria Zubimendi y Garazi Navas. Este álbum propone un recorrido fascinante a través de tres siglos de música, donde la transcripción se convierte en arte y el acordeón en puente entre épocas, estilos y culturas.
Lejos de limitarse al repertorio contemporáneo —tan vinculado al desarrollo del acordeón moderno—, ELEMENTUAK reivindica la tradición de la transcripción como vía de expansión estética. El programa transita desde la elegancia ceremonial del Barroco francés hasta los paisajes sonoros del nacionalismo vasco del siglo XX, revelando la versatilidad tímbrica, dinámica y expresiva de dos instrumentos que respiran al unísono.
La primera parte del disco se adentra en el universo de Jean-Baptiste Lully y Jean-Philippe Rameau, pilares de la música cortesana francesa. La Entrée et danse des Zéphyrs y la Obertura de Atys despliegan refinamiento y teatralidad, mientras que la Gavotte et six doubles de Rameau permite al dúo explorar una rica paleta de colores, articulaciones y contrastes dinámicos en un magistral ejercicio de variación.
El núcleo conceptual del álbum lo constituye la selección de Les Élémens de Jean-Féry Rebel, cuya célebre apertura, Le Cahos, anticipa una modernidad sorprendente mediante una audaz disonancia que simboliza el desorden primordial. En manos de Expressio Duo, la obra adquiere una intensidad casi contemporánea, potenciando la densidad armónica y el dramatismo inherente a la partitura.
La tercera parte del programa se sumerge en la memoria musical vasca a través de Aita Donostia y Jesús Guridi. Las Acuarelas Vascas evocan paisajes, danzas y atmósferas impresionistas de delicada sensibilidad, mientras que fragmentos de El Caserío y la emblemática Ezpatadantza de Amaya celebran la energía rítmica y el arraigo popular. La Biribilketa final, en arreglo de Garazi Navas, culmina el disco con brillante virtuosismo y una poderosa evocación identitaria.
Formadas en Musikene y con destacadas trayectorias individuales en el ámbito nacional e internacional, Zubimendi y Navas fundaron Expressio Duo en 2019 con el propósito de explorar al máximo las posibilidades expresivas del acordeón en formato camerístico. Su compenetración artística y su dominio técnico permiten abordar repertorios originalmente concebidos para orquesta con una perspectiva íntima, intensa y renovadora.
Grabado en el Auditorio Manuel de Falla de Granada bajo la producción de Paco Moya, ELEMENTUAK no es únicamente una colección de transcripciones, sino una declaración artística: el acordeón, instrumento de aire y cuerpo, dialoga con la historia para revelar dimensiones expresivas latentes en músicas de referencia.
Desde el caos primordial hasta la danza popular, desde la corte de Luis XIV hasta los frontones vascos, ELEMENTUAK confirma que el acordeón es, hoy más que nunca, un instrumento capaz de reinventar la tradición.
About (ENG)
ELEMENTUAK
Expressio Duo – Maria Zubimendi & Garazi Navas
A sonic journey from the French Baroque to the heart of Basque musical identity, reimagined through the powerful expressiveness of an accordion duo.
IBS Classical proudly presents ELEMENTUAK, the debut album of Expressio Duo, formed by Basque accordionists Maria Zubimendi and Garazi Navas. This recording offers a compelling journey across three centuries of music, where transcription becomes a refined art and the accordion serves as a bridge between eras, styles, and cultures.
Rather than focusing on contemporary repertoire—so central to the modern development of the accordion—ELEMENTUAK embraces the long-standing tradition of transcription as a means of artistic expansion. The programme moves from the ceremonial elegance of the French Baroque to the evocative soundscapes of early 20th-century Basque nationalism, revealing the remarkable timbral, dynamic, and expressive possibilities of two accordions breathing as one.
The first part of the album explores the world of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau, pillars of French court music. The Entrée et danse des Zéphyrs and the Overture from Atys unfold with theatrical refinement and structural clarity, while Rameau’s Gavotte et six doubles allows the duo to display an impressive range of colour, articulation, and dynamic contrast in a masterful exercise in variation technique.
At the conceptual core of the album lies a selection from Les Élémens by Jean-Féry Rebel, whose famous opening movement, Le Cahos, boldly anticipates modernity through a striking dissonant chord symbolising primordial disorder. In Expressio Duo’s interpretation, the work acquires an almost contemporary intensity, enhancing its harmonic density and dramatic tension through the physical and visceral qualities of the instrument.
The final section of the programme turns to the Basque musical heritage through works by Aita Donostia and Jesús Guridi. The Acuarelas Vascas evoke landscapes, dances, and impressionistic atmospheres of subtle lyricism, while excerpts from El Caserío and the iconic Ezpatadantza from Amaya celebrate rhythmic vitality and deep-rooted cultural identity. The concluding Biribilketa, arranged by Garazi Navas, crowns the album with dazzling virtuosity and a powerful sense of collective memory.
Both trained at Musikene (the Higher Conservatory of the Basque Country) and with distinguished individual careers at national and international level, Zubimendi and Navas founded Expressio Duo in 2019 with the aim of exploring the full expressive potential of the accordion in chamber format. Their artistic synergy and technical command allow them to approach orchestral repertoire from an intimate yet intense and refreshingly original perspective.
Recorded at the Manuel de Falla Auditorium in Granada under the production of Paco Moya, ELEMENTUAK is far more than a collection of transcriptions. It is an artistic statement: the accordion—an instrument of air and body—enters into dialogue with history to uncover latent expressive dimensions within celebrated works.
From primordial chaos to popular dance, from the court of Louis XIV to the Basque frontón, ELEMENTUAK confirms the accordion’s capacity to reinvent tradition and redefine its place in today’s classical landscape.
Maria Zubimendi
Hailed by critics for her exceptional technique and musicianship, as well as for her ‘powerful presence and body language’ (Scherzo), Maria Zubimendi is considered one of the most important accordionists of her generation.
Born in Zumaia (Gipuzkoa) in 1994, she started her accordion studies with Miren Iñarga, later graduating from Musikene, the Conservatory of the Basque Country, where she studied with Iñaki Alberdi. She then went on to take a master’s degree in contemporary music at the Musikhochschule FHNW in Basel.
She has won several awards in national and international competitions, including second prize at the Klingenthal International Accordion Competition (Germany), first prize at the Santa Cecilia International Accordion Competition (Rome, Italy) and first prize at the Arrasate Hiria International Competition (Basque Country). As a soloist, she has given recitals at such prestigious venues as the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, the Fundación Juan March, the Auditorio de Tenerife, the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, and the LAC Teatrostudio in Lugano.
In addition to her work as a traditional performer, she regularly collaborates with artists from different disciplines, driven by her interest in experimentation. She has taken part in groundbreaking artistic projects of all styles and types, and her commitment to contemporary music is reflected in the many premieres she has given of works by composers such as José María Sánchez-Verdú, Félix Ibarrondo, Francisco Domínguez, Ramon Lazkano, Caspar Johannes Walter, Chantale Laplante, Mikel Chamizo and Sofia Avramidou.
Zubimendi works closely with many different classical and contemporary ensembles, but among her main chamber music projects are eXpreSSio duo, formed with fellow accordionist Garazi Navas, and, in particular, Trio Zukan, which has established itself as a benchmark ensemble on the contemporary music scene in Spain. She co-founded the latter with Jon Ansorena (txistu) and Gorka Catediano (percussion), and has performed with them as far afield as Canada, the Netherlands, Cyprus and Sweden.
Having also studied cultural management at the International University of La Rioja, Maria Zubimendi currently combines her performing career with management responsibilities at some of the Basque Country’s leading musical institutions.
Garazi Navas
Born in Usansolo (Biscay) in 1995, Garazi Navas completed her higher musical education at Musikene, the Conservatory of the Basque Country, and subsequently completed a master’s degree in Musical Performance, focusing on accordion, and a postgraduate course in Traditional Basque Music, both at the same institution.
She has taken part in many projects performing contemporary, classical, traditional and other genres, and she regularly collaborates, both as soloist and in larger ensembles, with artists from different disciplines on projects that combine music with dance, poetry, theatre or art installations. She has also performed on film soundtracks.
In 2020 she received the Orfeón Donostiarra–Musikene Award for her end of degree project, and in 2024 was awarded the Eusko Ikaskuntza–Laboral Kutxa Gazte Saria Award alongside author and actress Maite Aizpurua for their project Adarbakarra eta soinujolea.
She has performed as soloist with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra under Iker Sánchez Silva, and as a member of the same orchestra has worked with conductors such as Jean-Philippe Wurtz, Ernest Martínez Izquierdo, Jordi Francés and Shih-Hung Young. She has also played with the Spanish National Youth Orchestra (JONDE) under Fabián Panisello.
She has collaborated and made albums with artists including Miguel A. García, Àlex Reviriego, Vasco Trilla, Bilbao Sinfonietta, ĒTHĘR ensemble, Maite Arroitajauregi, Ibon RG and Manu Gaigne, and has performed at such events, venues and festivals as the LIMO Cycle (CentroCentro, Madrid), Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos Auditorium (Burgos), Meakusma Festival (Belgium), Next Festival (Bratislava) and Jauna Muzika (Vilnius), among others.
