Since their first concert in 1991, Dale Kavanagh and Thomas Kirchoff,

the Amadeus Guitar Duo, has gone on to become one of the most

critically acclaimed guitar duos in the world. They have toured in more

than 50 countries in Europe and North, Central and South America and

Asia, enchanting audiences everywhere they go with their exuberance,

virtuoso presentation, and warm, sensitive guitar tone. While the Duo

performs music from all periods, they have had a long-time special

relationship with perhaps the most important guitar composer of the 20th

century: Joaquín Rodrigo.

Rodrigo, who died in 1999, composed numerous works for solo guitar,

guitar duo and multiple guitars with orchestra, most notable his immortal

"Concierto de Aranjuez." All three works on the present recording

feature call for extremes of virtuosity and scintillating flights of musical

fantasy.

The "Concierto Andaluz” for four guitars and orchestra is an homage to

the landscape and the music of Andalusia. This Spanish region is

especially reflected in the characteristic forms of the Flamenco,

Bulerías, Zapateado and Sevillanas. Rodrigo also retained the idea of

the baroque concerto with multiple solo instruments in this piece for

orchestra and guitar-quartet.Tthe final work on the program, "Concierto

Madrigal" for two guitars and orchestra, is actually more a suite than a

traditional concerto, and comprises ten brief movements, based on the

anonymous Renaissance madrigal "Felices ojos mios" (Happy Eyes of

Mine). The composer wrote that "the element that sustains [the work] is

the variation principle. Each of the variations or episodes is indicated by

the title, which gives a clue to its atmosphere…”