Ensembles

Duetto Giocondo     Duo Galante     CL & Brigitte Engelhard     CL & John Dearman     Trio Delicado     Quartetto MaGiCo    

Duetto Giocondo

Duetto Giocondo, which consists of Caterina Lichtenberg (mandolin/soprano lute) and Mirko Schrader (guitar/lute), today ranks among the top duos of its kind.

The artists first met as students of music at the Cologne Academy of Music and in 1991 founded Duetto Giocondo.

Mirko Schrader is a prize winner of numerous national and international guitar competitions. Apart from broadcast and television recordings, the two musicians have toured many European countries as well as the USA and Japan.

Four CD recordings of Duetto Giocondo are available so far at KOCH&SCHWANN.

Duo Galante

Duo Galante interprets works from four centuries on soprano lutes, mandolas as well as on Romantic and Neapolitan mandolins. The tonal beauty and transparency of these instruments bestow on the listener a very special sound experience.

The two musicians have known each other since their childhood and have formed a permanent duo since 1999. Silke Lisko concertises in various chamber music settings, e.g. together with the guitarist Rupert Germann, and as a member of Quartetto Colori. The first CD of Duo Galante will be published in summer 2002.

Duo Lichtenberg & Engelhard

Brigitte Engelhard and Caterina Lichtenberg first met in 1997, during CD recordings in Innsbruck. Mrs. Engelhard is a full professor at the Salzburg Mozarteum and has made a name for herself in numerous concert performances at home and abroad, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician playing the cembalo and the pianoforte. She has also won wide acclaim as a concert partner of well-known soloists, such as Irena Grafenauer, Saschko Gawriloff, Roswitha Staege, Rainer Kußmaul and many more. Apart from numerous radio recordings, Brigitte Engelhard has also made gramophone and CD recordings.

Caterina Lichtenberg and Brigitte Engelhard enchant their listeners with their perfectly homogenous playing, which combines ease and energy, playfulness and power. Their musical emphasis is on the Baroque and early Classical period. On their CD "Instruments of the Ferdinandeum", the two musicians can be heard playing Ludwig van Beethoven's four original works for mandolin and pianoforte.

Duo Lichtenberg & Dearman

Caterina Lichtenberg and John Dearman, member of the legendary Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, have been playing together since 1998. Apart from classical mandolin and guitar music, their focus is on contemporary American music blended with elements of jazz and folk. Their very successful concerts have led them throughout the USA and Canada. Among the highlights are their concerts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minnesota, Atlanta, Sarasota, New York, and their invitation to the Domaine Forget Music and Dance Academy (Canada). In Germany, they were, for example, performing guests at the Nürtingen Guitar Festival 2000.

Trio Delicado

Trio Delicado - that's Caterina Lichtenberg, one of the leading mandolinists of our time, Diego Jascalevich, a charango virtuoso from Argentina, and the award-winning guitarist Peter Ernst. In addition to giving performances of works by Vivaldi, Calace and Munier, the trio is dedicated to artful interpretations of pieces written by South-American composers. Whether Tango or Bossa Nova, whether new compositions or assimilations of the musical traditions preserved by the indigeneous peoples of the Amazon Rain Forest - this music helps us breathe in, as it were, a piece of the world. The three musicians excel in brilliance and virtuosity, delighting their audience with musical sensitivity and convincing interpretations. Trio Delicado has released a CD recording which testifies to the quality of their work.

Quartetto MaGiCo

One may be surprised to hear that this promising and sonorous name does not stand for a conventional string quartet, but for an unusual and exiting quartet of two mandolins and two guitars. Distinctively complementing one another, the dual instrumentation allows for unusual and fresh harmonies with colourful and versatile sounds. Olaf van Gonnissen, a guitarist from Frankfurt, Germany, initiated the Quartetto MaGiCo in summer 2004. With a lot of verve and enthusiasm, he developed a broad repertoire from italian baroque and modernity to original works and his own, skillful arrangements.

Expanding the classical dual instrumentation with mandolin and guitar is quite a challenge, and this quartet has mastered it in a way that should not be missed.