Piano virtuoso, composer, and renowned professor, Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) was born in Tuscany, grew up in Trieste, and died in Berlin. Two apparently irreconcilable components seem to align in his extensive oeuvre: the contrapuntal structures of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and the transcendental pianism of Franz Liszt (1811-1886).

His many publications of Bach, adapted for modern piano, are a direct result of his unique fusion of the Baroque and the Romantic. Defined often more commonly by the German terms Bearbeitung (similar to the concept of adaptation or arrangement), or as Übertragung (analogous to transcription), they are in fact the product of over 30 years of work, and are divided in two main collections: the Busoni Ausgabe, in 25 volumes, and the Bach-Busoni Collected Edition, in 13 volumes (his opus also includes a smaller collection, the Sechs Tonstücke, from 1916).

Present in the third volume of the Bach-Busoni Collected Edition (also reproduced in the smaller collection of six pieces), his “Chaconne,” the fifth and final movement of Bach’s Partita n. 2 for solo violin, rapidly became a favorite of pianists. The romantic virtuosity added to the original piece, which never violates its rigorous structure – the 63 variations built upon a theme only 5 measures– has held its own even against the backdrop of the rise, in the second half of the 20th century, of historically informed performance. In the world of solo guitar, the “Chaconne” would take up its still prominent position beginning in 1925 with its first public performance by Andrés Segovia, followed by the publication of his own edition of the work.

To perform an “adaptation of an adaptation” of the piece (for guitar duo), however, is something entirely new, and this is what Desiderio-Dukić, in their first studio album, have attempted here. This version, which emulates, in the guitars, the dynamic heights and the pianistic flourishes of Busoni, is signed by Ulrich Stracke.

Along with Bach, pre-Romantic music is also represented in the work of two Italian composers born in the same region and sharing a first name: Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) and Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801). Scarlatti was born in Naples and died in Madrid, where he worked for 25 years and wrote the greater part of his more than 500 sonatas for keyboard, many of which have been transcribed and recorded by both guitar soloists and duos.

Here, Aniello Desiderio and Zoran Dukić perform two sonatas by Scarlatti: K.466, originally in F minor (but appearing here in E minor, following the edition of Eleonora Perretta and Lucio Matarazzo) and L. 288 (or K. 432), originally in G major, here presented in A major in a version signed by Uruguayan guitarist Oscar Cáceres (1928-2021).

About 14 kilometers separate Naples – also the hometown of Desiderio – from Aversa, birthplace of Cimarosa. The composer is celebrated for his operas (such as Il matrimonio segreto) and for his work as composer in the Russian court of Catherine II, the Great. He died in Venice at the age of 51. Cimarosa left behind 88 sonatas for keyboard, two of which appear here in versions for two guitars authored by Mario Fragnito and Lucio Matarazzo. They are n. 28, in C minor (performed, here, in D minor) and n. 55 in A minor (also in D minor).

Although the distance between Naples and Zagreb, capital city of Croatia and birthplace of Zoran Dukić, exceeds 1000km (or 680 miles), both are from the same generation and have known each other for many years. Winners of some of the most important international solo guitar contests in the 1980s and 1990s, they were, with a difference of only two years, awarded the first prize at the prestigious International Francisco Tárrega Competition, in Spain (Aniello in 1992; Zoran in 1994).

Since then, they have had widely successful careers as solo artists, and have recently joined forces, exploring long-standing passions for the music of the Baroque and that of Spain and Latin America.

A common trait in the work of both is an admiration for the work of Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), particularly, for his Suite Troileana, written in the year of 1975 as an homage to the bandoneonist Aníbal Troilo (1914-1975). The four movements of the work were adapted for two guitars by Sérgio Assad, and three of them – the final three – appear here. They are: “Zita” (which also occurs, as separate piece, in Desiderio-Dukič’s previous album, recorded live), “Whisky,” and “Escolaso.”

A now classical piece of the guitar duo repertoire – and the only piece originally written for the ensemble in this CD – Tonadilla, composed by the Spanish Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) in 1959, is given, here, a vibrant interpretation by the ItalianCroatian duo, and can also be savored in their debut album (also released by GuitarCoop), recorded live at the 2020 edition of the International Guitar Festival in Koblenz, Germany.

Sidney Molina