Katona TwinsGuitar Duo[Short Biography] The Hungarian born Katona Twins, Peter and Zoltán Katona, “ the classical world’s best known guitar duo” (Daily Telegraph) give recitals in major concert venues throughout the world, including performances at the Royal Festival and Wigmore halls in London, in Amsterdam, Vienna, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Cologne, among others. In 2009, as soloists of the "Night of the Proms" they performed live to half a million people in arenas across Europe. Regular favourites at festivals and music societies throughout the UK, the twins have won over ten international prizes at major competitions and have recorded frequently for the BBC and other international television and radio stations. Their repertoire ranges from Bach, Piazzolla’s tango music to their own arrangements of pop classics and include concertos for two guitars and orchestra by Rodrigo, Vivaldi and Tedesco. Michael Berkeley, Judith Bingham, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez and several other contemporary composers have written for and dedicated works to the Katona Twins. [Longer Biography] “The brilliant Katona Twins … Formidable virtuoso technique …. their performances could hardly be bettered for charm, zest, wit and colouristic flair.” Daily Telegraph Peter and Zoltán Katona, acclaimed by the Daily Telegraph as “ the classical world’s best known guitar duo”, give recitals in major concert venues throughout the world, among them the Royal Festival and Wigmore halls in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt and Philharmonie in Cologne. In 2009, as the soloists of the "Night of the Proms" they performed live to half a million people in arenas across Europe. Forthcoming engagements in 2012 take them to Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Rumania, Thailand and Russia. Winners of over ten international prizes at major competitions, the Twins are regular favourites at festivals and music societies throughout the UK. The Katona Twins have recorded frequently for the BBC and other international television and radio stations. Their award-winning CD releases include music by Scarlatti and Handel; Rodrigo; Albéniz, Piazzolla and Manuel de Falla. The Duo’s wide repertoire ranges from Bach, through Piazzolla’s tango music to their own arrangements of pop classics. Their programmes also include concertos for two guitars and orchestra by Rodrigo, Vivaldi, Piazzolla and Tedesco. Michael Berkeley, Judith Bingham, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez and other contemporary composers have written for and dedicated works to the Katona Twins. They have also collaborated with string quartets and other chamber groups. The Katona Twins studied both individually and as a guitar duo in Budapest, Frankfurt and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. During their studies their teachers included Julian Bream and John Williams. Born in Hungary, Peter and Zoltan Katona are German citizens and now live in the UK. Some reviews: The Katona Twins’ music making was absolutely breathtaking .. an extremely delicate, rich and sensitive interpretation of all the works in the programme. These young charming musicians moved the audience to an extreme….they played and felt the music in perfect unity. München Merkur, Germany If you're up for a new approach to this music, you'll find this record consistently well-played, emotional and exciting." American Record Guide This is a zippy collection of works by Manuel de Falla arranged for the dynamic Katona guitar duo, with percussion and the soprano Juanita Lascarro for good measure. It's exhilarating... peter and Zoltan Katona have an extraordinary singularity of musical vision and effortlessness of technique, Gramophone ‘Classical CD of the week’ "Vivaldi" - Katona Twins with the Carducci String Quartet The brilliant Katona Twins mingle the familiar (a Double Concerto and the solo D major Concerto RV93, with its dreamy Largo) with rarities such as a pair of trio sonatas, both marked by Vivaldi's characteristic melancholy lyricism and raw, percussive energy. … their performances, crisply supported by the Carducci Quartet, could hardly be bettered for charm, zest, wit and colouristic flair. The Daily Telegraph. Golden Ear Award Peter and Zoltan Katona, in addition to genetic material, share a fabulous guitar technique and highly refined musical instincts, applied here to a disc devoted to the Argentinean composer and tango master Astor Piazzolla. The readings are dramatically taut, alternately delicate and assertive, with exceptionally clean passage work and crystalline harmonics. There are stretches of exquisite beauty... The Absolute Sound This latest Album from the Katona Twins fully sustains the high standards set by their previous three releases for Channel Classics....whatever the medium the Katonas and colleagues demonstrate a natural feel for the idiom. International Record Review Now we have the Hungarian duo of the Katona twins, possessed of the technique most others can only dream of. Their needle-sharp unanimity of thought and attack is such that listening ‘blind’ one might wonder how one player could possibly have so many digits….. Gramophone Few guitar ensembles can match the special qualities of the Katona Twins Guitar Duo. …. their displays of technique, but above all of musicianship, set standards… IRISH TIMES " ..young guitar duo, winners of the 1999 Concert Artists Guild Competition, virtuosos who play with an almost eerie unanimity of style and considerable charm.” New Yorker The Katona Twin’s music making was absolutely breathtaking ...an extremely delicate, rich and sensitive interpretation of all the works in the programme. These young charming musicians moved the audience to an extreme….they played and felt the music in perfect unity. München Merkur, Germany The Katona Brothers play so precisely and well together that in this discipline, their music takes on a supernatural quality. Copenhagen, Berlingske Tidende "The Katona Twins share not only a staggering virtuoso technique but rather eerie powers of ensemble. Identical not only in good looks, but in their playing style and charming stage manner, Peter and Zoltan know how to make a good show." The Times "Peter and Zoltan Katona’s music-making was breathtaking. Their performance breathes with an incredible ease, even in the most virtuosic passages…. The ensemble is perfect – both in the dynamics and phrasing, making the sound of the two instruments merge into one." Dresdener Neuste Nachrichten 
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