Composer: Antonio Vivaldi, Silvius Leopold Weiss
Performer: Katona Twins, Carducci String Quartet
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Channel
Catalogue: CCSSA23707
Release: 2007
Size: 1.78 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 Mandolins, Strings and Continuo in G, R.532
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Andante
03. III. Allegro
Vivaldi: Trio Sonata for Violin, Lute and Basso Continuo in C major, RV 82
04. I. Allegro non molto
05. II. Larghetto
06. III. Allegro
Vivaldi: Concerto for Lute and 2 Violins in D major, RV 93
07. I.
08. II. Largo
09. III. Allegro
Vivaldi: Trio Sonata for Violin, Lute and Basso Continuo in G minor, RV 85
10. I. Andante molto
11. II. Larghetto
12. III. Allegro
Vivaldi: Concerto in C major for mandolin / lute, RV425
13. I. Allegro
14. II. Largo
15. III.
Weiss: Concerto No. 9 for 2 Lutes in A Major, WeissSW 60
16. I. Vivace
17. II. Allegro
18. III. Largo
19. IV. Presto
Hungary’s Katona Twins join a long list of guitar-playing siblings in both the classical and popular fields; like Brazilians Sergio and Odair Assad (and their awe-inspiring kid sister Badi), the duo performs a wide range of material in shows that begin with the Baroque and move forward to South American music, jazz, and pop. Although Vivaldi is not really the group’s specialty, it achieves intriguing results here with a group of concerto and trio sonata transcriptions (plus one reconstructed duo sonata by Weiss), mostly for lute, mandolin, and strings originally. The two have the razzle-dazzle coordination in complex duo passages that siblings seem to find easier than unconnected mortals, and their inflections of the guitar strings in the lyrical Vivaldi slow movements are attractive and affecting. To achieve a lute-like clarity, they tweak the guitar in an intriguing way, quickly releasing the strings — and the ease of their playing while using what must have been a rather unnatural technique makes the performance all the more impressive. Perhaps to keep the focus on the guitars, whose volume is a bit diminished by this kind of playing, they opt for a string quartet accompaniment (with bass) in the Vivaldi concertos. This is disconcerting at first; it tends to give the performance a kind of strolling-musician quality. But taken on its own terms it works, and the ensemble balance they strike is convincing. You settle into the sound after a while, and the clear but not over-live engineering from the Channel Classics label is also a help. An exciting release from some new starts of the guitar.