March 2010 (Part 1)

What, no Piazzolla?  Lots of other delights to satisfy a large and appreciative audience though! We find it interesting how the different ensembles bring out their own fans, and we certainly had some enthusiastic ‘pluckers’ of all ages who were treated to a wonderful example of guitar virtuosity.  I mentioned last month that the Carduccis, being two married couples, display a wonderful empathy with each other – and the Katonas, as identical twins playing the same instrument seems to act as mirror images of each other, in complete harmony.

Zoltan and Peter are old friends of ours, and never fail to amaze us with their musicianship.  I asked why their guitars are not the conventional round Spanish shape, and they explained that there is cut-out on the top to make it easier to play in the higher registers, which they do quite a lot!

Their programme was an eclectic mix of works which they had largely arranged themselves.  We flitted from country to country – the Barber of Seville, Bach’s English Suite, and a Rodrigo suite all before the interval.  We then enjoyed Mozart, Bizet and De Falla – and a most interesting piece by Stephen Dodgson entitled Promenade 1.    Zoltan explained that the work did indeed describe a walk, including a dog fight, which we heard rather vividly.  He wondered, in view of all the publicity associated with the new film of Alice in Wonderland whether Stephen Dodgson is related to Lewis Carroll (Rev Charles Dodgson), and with a little Googling, Wikipedia tells me that indeed he is the nearest living relative to carry the same name.

As an encore we were treated to another of the twins’ arrangements, which they have called Scarlatti’s Metamorphosis, and which is a real show stopper.  I would urge you to have a look at it on www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8jmQ5Pu4zg when they played it at the Night of the Proms tour they recently undertook, playing to over half a million people in arenas throughout Europe.  Our version did not have the orchestral backing nor the impressive light show, but it still raised the roof. 

We are delighted that such a high profile pair are happy to include us in their tours – their next stop was Plockton! – and they can be assured of an enthusiastic reception should they come back again.

Alison