A&Z

In A&Z, Aniello Desiderio and Zoran Dukić bring together their distinguished artistic paths in a project that explores, with historical awareness and interpretative rigor, the tradition of transcription and adaptation in the guitar repertoire. This is the duo’s first studio album, uniting two leading figures of contemporary classical guitar around a program spanning the Baroque, Classical, and 20th-century traditions.

At the conceptual core of the album is Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chaconne from the Partita No. 2 for solo violin, performed here through Ferruccio Busoni’s renowned piano adaptation. Developed over more than thirty years, Busoni’s work represents a unique synthesis of Baroque contrapuntal thinking and Romantic virtuosity. The version for two guitars presented in this recording — an “adaptation of an adaptation” — was realized by Ulrich Stracke, preserving the work’s structural integrity while translating its pianistic breadth into the guitar duo medium.

The program is further enriched by sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti and Domenico Cimarosa, key Italian composers of the pre-Romantic period. Originally conceived for keyboard, these works are heard in refined arrangements for two guitars by Eleonora Perretta, Lucio Matarazzo, Oscar Cáceres and Mario Fragnito, highlighting the chamber potential of this repertoire.

A bridge to the 20th century is established through three movements of Astor Piazzolla’s Suite Troileana, arranged for two guitars by Sérgio Assad, alongside Tonadilla by Joaquín Rodrigo, a landmark work originally composed for guitar duo.

Despite their different geographical origins — Desiderio from Naples and Dukić from Zagreb — the two artists belong to the same generation and share a long-standing artistic relationship, shaped by major international awards and successful solo careers. In A to Z, this partnership results in a recording that affirms the guitar as a vehicle for dialogue between tradition, transformation, and interpretative excellence.