Cello Duello

"Cello Duello" is both name and program, a musical competition between the two cellists on stage. Duel sounds rather pugnacious. But far from it. Jens Peter Maintz and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt do carry weighty "weapons" with them, such as two pointed cello spikes and bows. However, it will be more about working together than against each other.

The two artists came together as a duo in 1991 on a master class given by cellist and Lübeck university professor David Geringas. At the time, a brilliant finale was still being sought for the program of the final concert, whereupon the students got together and arranged Paganini's famous Moses Fantasy for two cellos without further ado. That was the birth of "Cello Duello", a duo formation that is now celebrating its 35th anniversary on stage.
Paganini was considered an almost superhuman virtuoso during his lifetime. Stories in which even the breaking of strings did not stop him from finishing the concerto on the remaining G string were part of an extremely effective marketing strategy in which truth and legend can no longer be separated. Paganini's Fantasia (1819) takes up a theme from Gioacchino Rossini's opera "Moses in Egypt" and develops it in breathtaking variations on the G string alone. The poet Franz Grillparzer was completely electrified after a triumphant performance by the master in Vienna: "Paganini's playing had the effect of enchantment". The same effect can also be expected from Cello Duello.
Sources: www.jenspetermaintz.com; https://dasorchester.de/; https://kammerorchester.com/

Joseph Haydn: Duet in D major Hob. X:11 & XII: 3+5
Niccolò Paganini: Moses Fantasy (Arr. Cello Duello)
Niccolò Paganini: Cantabile in D major, op.17
Carl Maria v. Weber: Adagio and Rondo (arr. Piatigorsky / Schmidt)
Jacques Offenbach: Cello Duo in E major op. 54 No. 2, et al.