The Montenegrin Guitar Duo’s performances of music by Manuel De Falla and J.S. Bach are featured on episodes of Radio 3’s performance-focused programme Classical Live this week.

Introducing the Montenegrin Guitar Duo as ‘a perfect combination’, presenter Tom McKinney selected excerpts from the Duo’s concert last April at the Vojvodina Guitar Festival in Serbia to include in Tuesday and Wednesday’s episodes of Classical Live. The programme showcases the best performances from the UK and beyond, recorded by both the BBC and the European Broadcasting Union, with the original broadcast of this concert having being made by Swedish National Radio last June.

McKinney contextualises the duo within the larger Balkan guitar community, speaking about the longstanding intersection of folk music and plucked instruments in the region that has bred an astonishing modern culture of guitar playing of which the duo are proud to be part.

A guitarist himself, McKinney highlights the percussive techniques demanded by Gruber and Maklar’s arrangement of Manuel De Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance, employed to imitate a foot stamping dance said to scare away ghosts. The duo look forward to performing the same work as part of their concert at Guitarra Viva Zagreb next week, details of which may be found by following this link. Speaking about the Duo’s arrangement of Bach’s French Suite No. 1 in D minor, BWV 812, McKinney draws his listeners’ attention to the “palate of colours” that they are able achieve on the guitar.

Each episode will be available to hear on the BBC for 29 days following its broadcast. Tuesday’s episode may be heard via this link, with the introduction to the Montenegrin Guitar Duo beginning at 2:27:50. The Duo are introduced on Wednesday’s programme at 1:01:12, which may be heard here.