Cello Duello: Cello x2
Both mentors of this year’s cello masterclasses are phenomenal soloists. But why play the most challenging pieces on one cello when you can play them on two—and with joy?
Ticket prices:
690 – 2 390 CZK
Date
17/9/2025
Location
St Agnes Convent
Time
8 pm
Doors Closed
7.55 pm
End of Concert
9.45 pm
Dress Code
Casual
Programme Series
Programme
Joseph Haydn
Niccolò Paganini
Carl Maria von Weber
Adrien-François Servais
Jacques Offenbach
Niccolò Paganini
Artists
"The sun hung low in the blue sky, sending dazzling rays over Liebenberg Castle. Sweat trickled down the forehead, making the eyes burn with salt. Hardly ideal conditions for a duel..."
— Tagesspiegel
No, this isn’t Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West—it’s just one of the many concerts by Cello Duello, hailed by both critics and audiences alike.
"Salto mortale on the strings" – Berliner Zeitung
"En garde!" – Tagesspiegel
"A true fireworks of musical virtuosity" – Wiesbadener Tageblatt
"The harder it gets, the more ardour they show" – Wiesbadener Kurier
"Cello Duello at its best" – Kölner Rundschau
"No duel, but a duet!" – Berliner Morgenpost
"When bumblebees race across the strings" – Celloakademie Rutesheim
Cello Duello is both a name and a concept—a musical “battle” played out on stage. "The name Cello Duello sounds pretty warlike, but nothing could be further from the truth. Jens Peter Maintz and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt may master ‘big guns’ and their virtuosic bows, but their encounter is more about collaboration than confrontation. Each voice plays an equal role which they switch dynamically at lightning speed—a dazzling artistic spectacle." (Rhein-Neckar Zeitung)
Cello Duello have played together for over 30 years. Jens Peter Maintz and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt studied together in the class of David Geringas in Lübeck. The duo was born out of necessity—when searching for a suitable piece for a closing concert at their professor’s masterclass, they arranged Paganini’s Moses Fantasy, marking the beginning of Cello Duello.
Since then, the duo has performed all over the world, appearing at prestigious cello festivals such as Kronberg Cello Festival, Cello Akademie Rutesheim, Vivacello in Moscow, the Cello Biennale Amsterdam, and in 2016, the Piatigorsky Festival in Los Angeles. Their concerts have taken them to renowned venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.
Cello Duello offers a highly entertaining yet artistically sophisticated concert program. Their repertoire spans from original compositions of the Baroque and early Classical periods to deeply Romantic works by legendary cellist-composers such as David Popper and Jacques Offenbach, as well as newly commissioned pieces by composers like Jan Müller-Wieland. Additionally, their own arrangements form a key part of their program—highlights include Paganini’s Moses Fantasy and Händel-Halvorsen’s famous Passacaglia their versions for two cellos.
source: www.jenspetermaintz.com
About the Programme
If any instrument naturally belongs at a festival celebrating Dvořák’s music, it is the cello. Yet according to the ensemble Cello Duello, two instruments are better than one—and best of all is when they engage in a playful contest. This duel leads not to bloodshed or injuries but to friendly sparring between two outstanding musicians, driving each other to ever greater artistic heights. Renowned cellists Jens Peter Maintz and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, both former students of David Geringas, bring their phenomenal artistry and sense of humour to the stage. Maintz is a resident artist at the Lucerne Festival, and both are among the world’s most sought-after cello teachers, leading masterclasses during the Dvořák Prague Festival. Their programme features adaptations of Haydn’s classics, a virtuosic piece by Paganini, themes from Rossini’s operas, and an original duet by Jacques Offenbach—himself once a cellist.
We thank our partners for supporting the concert
St Agnes Convent
The Convent of St Agnes in the 'Na Františku' neighbourhood of Prague's Old Town is considered the first Gothic structure not only in Prague but in all of Bohemia. It was founded by King Wenceslas I in 1233–34 at the instigation of his sister, the Přemyslid princess Agnes of Bohemia, for the Order of Saint Clare which Agnes introduced into Bohemia and of which she was the first abbess. The convent was preceded by a hospital. The 'Poor Clares' originated as an offshoot of the Order of St Francis of Assisi, and the convent was at one time known as the Prague Assisi. Agnes was an outstanding figure in religious life of the thirteenth century. Besides this Clarist convent she also founded the only Czech religious order – the Hospital Order of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star. She was canonized in 1989.