kammerkonzerte.koeln: Gitarrenduo Kassung & Marziali

The guitar duo Kassung & Marziali was formed in 2009 as part of the Cologne Classical Ensemble, with the goal of presenting extraordinary, cross-genre programs for two guitars. Their album “Il Cinema” was named Album of the Year by the trade magazine *Akustikgitarre*. Through numerous concerts, this duo has since established itself as a true hidden gem on the international guitar scene.

The duo was last heard in Cologne in 2023—also as part of our series, in the final concert that took place in the Kunstverein’s hall. It will now be all the more wonderful to experience this extraordinary guitar duo in the outstanding acoustics of the Humboldt Hall. Tobias Kassung and Luciano Marziali have put together a program sure to set the hearts of classical music and guitar aficionados racing: opening with Renaissance dance pieces by John Dowland, the guitar duo will perform two of the monumental counterpoint pieces from Johann Sebastian Bach’s *The Art of Fugue*. 
This is followed by Tobias Kassung’s rousing original composition—the title track of their award-winning album “Il Cinema.” The program also features a wonderful piece by the French composer Mathias Duplessy, in which the guitar duo can showcase the full range of their virtuosity, as well as in Handel’s Suite HWV 432 with its famous final movement, the “Passacaglia.”
As part of the #henze2026 focus, the duo will also present Hans-Werner Henze’s “Three Minuets,” a central work from his rich body of work for the classical concert guitar—and his only composition for a guitar duo. 
And a rousing finale is guaranteed with the duo’s brilliant arrangements of classic film scores. 

Program:

John Dowland (1563–1626)
(Arr.: Luciano Marziali)
Semper Dowland, Semper Dolens
The King of Denmark’s Galiard

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) 
(Arr.: Luciano Marziali)
The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, Contrapunctus I & III

Tobias Kassung (b. 1977)
Il Cinema – Suite for Two Guitars, Op. 10
(Homage to Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco)

Mathias Duplessy (b. 1972)
La Danse des Sentiments

- Intermission - 

Hans Werner Henze (1926–2012)
Minette – Songs and Regrets of Love (1998)
1. Feline and Country Song
2. Minette’s Minuet
3. Chanson d'Adieu

George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
(Arr.: Luciano Marziali)
from the Seventh Suite in G minor, HWV 432 
Allegro – Andante – Passacaglia

Anton Karl Karas (1906–1985)
(Arr.: Luciano Marziali)
Harry Lime Theme
(from the film “The Third Man”)

Ennio Morricone (1928–2020)
(Arr.: Tobias Kassung / Luciano Marziali)
1. Cinema Paradiso
2. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly