What I Saw in the Water by ChromaDuo

What I Saw in the Water by ChromaDuo

What I Saw in the Water
21st Century Works for Guitar Duo
ChromaDuo with Rob MacDonald Tracy Anne Smith
Naxos Records, 2024

Listen, Stream, Buy: What I Saw in the Water by ChromaDuo

Learn more about the album via Naxos

Wonderful to hear this new release from ChromaDuo who always feature excellent repertoire and beautiful performances. This album includes four new compositions written for ChromaDuo by Leo Brouwer, Sergio Assad, Dusan Bogdanovic and Dale Kavanagh. Also on the album is Simone Iannarelli’s Siete pinturas de Frida Kahlo. I particularly enjoyed the playful new work, The Circle Game (after Margaret Atwood) by Brouwer where the duo showcases their experience and ensemble skills in a tightly knit and intricate texture along with contrasting expressive outburst and murmurs. Read more about the album here.

What I Saw in the Water by ChromaDuo features an exciting mix of new music both compositionally interesting and highly enjoyable to all audiences. Amazing ensemble skills and beautiful musicality are equally matched by a pristine recording sound and tonal palette. Fantastic music and thoughtful performances!


Naxos Description: ChromaDuo, one of the world’s finest guitar duos, have greatly expanded the repertoire through friendships with leading composers. The five works featured on this album, four of which were written specifically for ChromaDuo, are all composed by renowned classical guitarists. Simone Iannarelli contributes a promenade to seven iconic pictures by the artist Frida Kahlo, whereas the writer Margaret Atwood offers the creative spur to Leo Brouwer. Dušan Bogdanović has created a stylistic hybrid in his Sonata No. 2, Dale Kavanagh has fashioned a marine ghost story, and Sérgio Assad fuses Brazilian and French elements in his moving tribute to Roland Dyens.

Repertoire / Track List

  • Siete pinturas de Frida Kahlo by Simone Iannarelli
    • No. 1. Lo que vi en el agua (What I Saw in the Water)
    • No. 2. Unos cuantos piquetitos (A Few Small Nips)
    • No. 3. Las dos Fridas (The Two Fridas)
    • No. 4. Autoretrato, “El Marco” (Self-Portrait, “The Frame”)
    • No. 5. El sueño (The Dream)
    • No. 6. Mi nacimiento (My Birth)
    • No. 7. El abrazo de amor de el universo (The Love Embrace of the Universe)
  • The Circle Game (after Margaret Atwood) by Leo Brouwer
  • Sonata No. 2 for 2 Guitars by Dušan Bogdanović
    • I. Allegro
    • II. Andante
    • III. Moderato
    • IV. Allegro molto
  • The Ghost of Peggy’s Cove, Op. 14 by Dale Kavanagh
  • Dyens en trois temps by Sérgio Assad
    • I. Roland au Nord
    • II. La Chanson et Roland
    • III. Roland au Sud
Bradford Werner
Bradford Werner

Bradford Werner is a classical guitarist and music publisher from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He originally created this site for his students at the Victoria Conservatory of Music but now shares content worldwide. Curating guitar content helps students absorb the culture, musical ideas, and technique of the classical guitar. Bradford also has a YouTube channel with over 94,000 subscribers and 13 million views. He taught classical guitar at the Victoria Conservatory of Music for 16 years and freelanced in Greater Victoria for 20 years and now dedicates much of his time curating content online and helping connect the classical guitar community. See more at his personal website.

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