Duo Ariana Burstein & Roberto Legnani

With enthusiasm, and convinced that the pleasant sonority of violoncello with guitar was ideally suited for chamber music, we formed our duo in January 1996. At that time there was very little literature for our formation. For this reason, we set about to create a completely new repertoire with stylistic variety – not, however, to fill a niche in the world of music, it was rather the fascination with and joy of the rich spectrum of tonal colors, and the space for inexhaustible musical ideas.

An additional desire was to combine traditional Jewish, Spanish, Oriental, and Asian music with the classical musical culture. On our travels abroad, we let ourselves be inspired by the different musical cultures, and occupy ourselves with the respective instruments and their history.

We have gone on tour annually since 1996. To date (2007) we have given over seven hundred concerts. During these years we have created a rich and varied repertoire for violoncello and guitar. This cultural engagement was honored for the first time in 2000, and again in 2007 by the Office of the President of Germany at the recommendation of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science and Culture.

Our various Spanish programs – which include all the masterworks of Isaac Albéniz, Pablo de Sarasate, Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, etc., as well as Sephardic and traditional Spanish music – have proven to be great crowd-pleasers. In our arrangements for violoncello and guitar, the genres of art and folk music are combined to form a new poetical oeuvre.

In 1998, the well-known music publishing house F. Hofmeister, Leipzig, took an interest in our work and issued a series of our arrangements and compositions. These editions continue to find a ready market.

We play on award-winning instruments: The violoncello made by Wilhelm Brückner (Erfurt) and the guitar by Dieter Hopf (Wehen/Taunus) are testimonies to the high art of instrument making in Germany.

We produce and issue our CDs on our own label (ELEG). As a result of the great demand, in the near future we intend to expand our range of products to include our music editions.

Our friend Ulla Cunningham is a source of constant support in dealing with the many organizational tasks.

Every concert tour brings new surprises and interesting encounters. Meetings with positive-thinking people, with concert-goers and cooperative business partners are motivating moments for us.