Dueling lutes take the spotlight at Tucson early music concert

Paul O’Dette and Ronn McFarlane are the McCartney and Lennon of lute duet partners.

O’Dette is the ying to McFarlane’s yang.

We could go on but we surely digress.

The duo, credited as the leading performers when it comes to the lute, will let you decide when they play a concert with Arizona Early Music on Sunday, March 27.

According to recent reviews, O’Dette and McFarlane’s performances are like watching dueling rock guitar soloists trying to one-up themselves. They trade passages back and forth, each pass-through becoming more dazzling and virtuosic on a program that includes Italian and English dances, fantasies, ornamented madrigals and virtuosic variations of popular ballads dating to the 15th century, according to AEM press materials.

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Dueling duets in Italy and England go back centuries judging by the repertoire for the genre.

“The art of duetting is certainly as old as music itself, for what could be more satisfying than one’s own instrument but two of the same?” O’Dette said in program notes. “The resulting interaction of two performers and their exchange of musical ideas create an intensity and vitality that is perhaps unique in the world of chamber music. Two equal instruments allow the possibility of alternating the musical functions of melody and accompaniment, challenging each performer to match the other, often in quick succession.”

Sunday’s concert begins at 3 p.m. at Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams St. Tickets are $30 through azearlymusic.org. Those 30 and under can get discounted $5 (cash only) tickets at the door.

Coming in April: Arizona Early Music will conclude its season with the critically acclaimed international ensemble Tallis Scholars on April 20.