The Montenegrin Guitar Duo looks forward to launching their newly-published transcriptions of Bach’s English Suites 1-3 with a concert at the Montenegrin Music Centre in Podgorica on Saturday 26 June.
The transcriptions, re-working the original keyboard music for two guitars, were initially produced by the Duo to feature on their 2015 disc, released on the Naxos label to great critical acclaim.
The concert on 26 June takes place at 8pm local time, with a pre-concert launch event at 7pm specially dedicated to launching these new published editions.
The Duo’s 2015 CD featuring these Bach transcriptions was their debut disc on the Naxos label, and the first in their two-part series to record the full set of Bach’s English Suites. Volume II (Suites 4-6) was released by Naxos in 2018, and each disc received effusive praise across the press, both for the virtuosity of the performances and for the quality of the transcriptions.
“These are fine transcriptions, brilliantly played.”
— American Record Guide
After the launch event promoting the new publications, the Duo will perform an hour-long concert in the Chamber Hall of the Montenegrin Music Centre. The programme will open with Bach’s English Suite no. 6 in D minor, BWV 811, the last of the transcriptions from their second Naxos volume, before two arrangements of music by Astor Piazzolla: Oblivion arranged by Nejc Kuhar, and Suite Troileana arranged by Sergio Assad.
The published transcription of Suites 1-3 will be available to purchase online too in the next few weeks, and we will then provide the details. In the meantime, the audio samples below offer a taste of what’s to come in some excerpts from Suite no. 1.
The Montenegrin Guitar Duo translates Bach’s mastery of encompassing several musical styles within a single work through a new, refreshing instrumental texture.
— WGBH, CD of the week
Montenegrin Guitar Duo | Montenegrin Music Centre: Podgorica | Sat 26 June 2021 | 8:00 pm
Bach English Suite no. 6 in D minor, BWV 811, arr. Montenegrin Guitar Duo
Piazzolla Oblivion, arr. Nejc Kuhar
Piazzolla Suite Troileana, arr. Sergio Assad
