A Dialogue Between Strings and Art: Inside Duo Kontaxakis–Ivanovich’s World Award-Winning Album ”Mussorgsky, Stevenson: Pictures“
- WOMCO
- Oct 12
- 7 min read
Duo Kontaxakis–Ivanovich, comprising Michalis Kontaxakis and Dejan Ivanovich, from Athens and Lisbon, has been awarded the Diamond Prize at the World Classical Music Awards (WCMA) 2025, Season 3 for their CD album Mussorgsky, Stevenson: Pictures – Music for Two Guitars. The competition spanned from 21 May 2024 to 21 August 2025, with results announced in September 2025.
Released on 6 May 2025 under the Da Vinci Classics label, the album Mussorgsky, Stevenson: Pictures – Music for Two Guitars features a transcription of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and Ronald Stevenson's Don Quixote & Sancho Panza – A Bagatelle Cycle for two guitars.
When and why did you form your duo, and does playing music together hold a special meaning for you?
Duo Kontaxakis–Ivanovich:
"Duo Kontaxakis—Ivanovich was founded in 2004 after a period of three year reflection whether it would be viable to form a professional chamber music ensemble with two
musicians who live very far from each other (Portugal & Greece). But, the enthusiasm for playing together and the music itself is always stronger than any boundaries, so we can proudly say that this is the 21st year of our collaboration & activities as a guitar duo.
The real reason for creating the Duo Kontaxakis—Ivanovich was the artistic connection between the two musicians guitarists with completely different backgrounds, who tend to elevate the guitar as a classical instrument by exploring the possibility to expand its’ technical & interpretative possibilities with using two instruments simultaneously, instead of one.
Yes, playing chamber music together holds a special meaning, not only because of our friendship — which actually started in 2001 — but because this formation allows us to expand the repertory besides the original pieces written for two guitars. In this format, we can faithfully prepare music composed for different instruments & combinations, e.g., piano, organ, harpsichord or orchestral pieces."
Could you share the background of your award-winning guitar CD Album Mussorgsky, Stevenson: Pictures - Music for Two Guitars? When and where did you record it, and how did you choose the repertoire?
Duo Kontaxakis–Ivanovich:
"The love for Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition started in our childhood, when we were awed by the fantastical element of the piece (Gnomus, Baba-Yaga, Castello, etc.). Also, we remember hearing the Tuilleries (Dispute d’enfants après jeux) as a part of the music
soundtrack for The Smurfs animated series in the eighties. After that, we discovered that there are different versions of the piece (original piano version & the orchestrated one) and we started dreaming that, one day, it would possible to play this piece as faithfully as
possible on two guitars. Michalis [Kontaxakis] suggested that possibility already in 2004, but we started working on the transcription only in 2018, trying to humbly discover theright approach, texture, compositional choices, etc. Firstly, we focused our attention on Promenade I, Castello, Promenade III, Tuilleries, Baba Yaga & Great Gates of Kiev, which werepresented in the concert that same year. The biggest problem of the adaptation of Picturesfor two guitars was the movement Bydlo. It took some time to come up to the possibility howto preserve the depth & the heaviness of the register which that movement possess. It just didn’t sound right to deconstruct that crucial compositional element by placing the music an octave higher. So, then we came to a solution of using one different guitar — the one which has the 6th string from bass guitar (tuned in low G) —only for the movements between the aforementioned Bydlo & Cum Mortuis in lingua Mortua. That solution made the whole piece possible to be recreated on two guitars in an appropriate way, according to our artistic criteria. The premiere of our adaptation of Pictures for two guitars was held in January 2020 and we recorded it in October 2022. In April 2023, we had the privilege of being directed by the young & talented film director Martin Lloyd, for the creation of the film about our adaptation of Pictures, which was published in 2025 on Omni Foundation Youtube platform and has won the Diamond Prize at the World Classical Music Awards 2025 (Season 3) in the category of Music Video (C6).
Regarding the Project Pictures, and having in mind that we wanted to put the focus on Mussorgsky’s piece, it was logical to create a project based on programmatic music for two guitars. That’s why we have decided to include Ronald Stevenson’s (1928-2015) Don Quixote & Sancho Panza (A Bagatelle Cycle for two guitars) [1983] in this album, the piece which faithfully depicts the adventures of the aforementioned characters in Miguel de Cervantes’
book and which is our standard repertory since 2005. So, the complete album Pictures can be seen as a programmatic music voyage for two guitars, inspired by art of painting & literature. The audio material for the complete album was recorded in St. John’s Orthodox
Church in Nea Filadelfeia (Athens, Greece) between 26th & 28th of October 2022."
Your album intertwines Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with Ronald Stevenson’s works, creating a dialogue between two very distinct musical voices. What drew you to pair these composers, and how do you see their music resonating with each other when presented together?
Duo Kontaxakis–Ivanovich:
"As stated on the previous answer, the main idea of the project was the programmatic music
for two guitars based on the art of painting & literature. We find the pairing of these two composers very complementary and rewarding, mainly due to the fact that both composers
were mainly pianists. On the other hand, one could argue that Baba Yaga was a very advanced piece of music in 1863 — almost like a 19th century heavy metal — so it can be
considered that Stevenson's compositional choice between dodecaphonic (Don Quixote) &
modal themes (Sancho Panza) continues the path of time."
Recording a CD is very different from live performance—it becomes a lasting artistic statement. What were the biggest artistic or technical challenges you encountered while creating Mussorgsky, Stevenson: Pictures - Music for Two Guitars, and how do you hope listeners will connect with it in the digital era?
Duo Kontaxakis–Ivanovich:
"Probably, the biggest task was to bring forth all the timbric nuances of two guitars in
Mussorgsky’s piece and to create the large arch in the material development. It’s important
to mention that guitarists usually don’t present the 35 minutes long music pieces, so to
present the satisfactory overarching impression which includes all the instrumentation
possible on two guitars — based on the dialogue between the two instruments — was the
main challenge. The Digital Era brings many advantages but, also, some disadvantages. In
that regard, we hope that the listeners will manage to register all the timbric & expressive
richness of two guitars which is present on this album."
Would you like to share your experience participating in our competition and anyone you'd like to thank?
Duo Kontaxakis–Ivanovich:
"We are proud & privileged to have been awarded the Diamond Prize on World Classical
Music Awards 2025 (Season 3) and would like to thank to all our fans, supporters, friends & colleagues, former professors & our families in Greece, Portugal, Croatia & Bosnia-Herzegovina for all their support during this incredible adventure since 2018. Without their love & support, it would not be possible to achieve & complete this project with such a
rewarding result."
Biography
Duo Kontaxakis-Ivanovich is highly regarded by critics as one of the finest guitar duos of our time. It has been formed by Michalis Kontaxakis and Dejan Ivanovich in 2004. A few months after their debut recital in Athens, Michalis and Dejan took part of the portuguese national premiere of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto Madrigal with Filarmonia das Beiras under the baton of maestro António Vassalo Lourenço.
Over the past 20 years, they have performed extensively across Europe, including notable appearances at the Guitar Art Festival (Serbia), Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon-Portugal), Gevelsberg Guitar Festival (Germany), Thessaloniki Concert Hall (Greece), Guitarra Viva concert series (Croatia), Guimarães Guitar Festival (Portugal) and Veria Guitar Festival (Greece). On 6th of July 2019, they revisited maestro Rodrigo’s Concierto Madrigal in a memorial concert, to the hommage on the 20th anniversary of his death, at the José Tomás Villa de Petrer International Guitar Festival in Spain.
They have premiered works by Christopher Bochmann, Francisco Chaves, Stavros Angelou and Francesco Sgambati. Their 2010 album, Les Deux Amis, including works by Bach, Sor, Tedesco and Rodrigo, received numerous critical acclaim. Steve Marsh (Classical Guitar Magazine, February 2012) wrote the following about that recording:
"[...] So it was with great pleasure to discover Michalis Kontaxakis and Dejan Ivanovich starting their programme with this brilliant transcription (by Carlo Marchione) of this work [Italian Concerto BWV 971 by J.S. Bach] in a performance, which is here given an outstanding presentation of this awesome duo. [...] This duo are well up for all the challenges and in parts there are, intentionally or not, echoes of the Presti-Lagoya sound. [...] Throughout, the Kontaxakis-Ivanovich duo gives scorching, highly committed performances and the playing on this disc is some of the best duo ensemble I have listened to. Highly recommended."
Duo Kontaxakis-Ivanovich plays on guitars by Alkis Efthymiadis and belongs to the D’Addario artists roster.
