One of the twins began this recital by saying a few words about Castelnuovo-Tedesco, the author of the first four pieces.

He was a successful composer of movie music and, certainly, the pieces they played - two preludes and fugues from The Well-Tempered Guitar op.119 - had the sweep and confidence of the best film scores.

Embarrassingly, the audience applauded at the end of the second prelude. However, the same twin simply pointed out there was another piece to come which they proceeded to play without any noticeable disturbance to their composure.

The round form of the fugue is suited to performance as a duet but it was nevertheless uncanny to hear a complex figure perfectly performed on one guitar and then immediately repeated on an identical guitar in the hands of an apparently identical person.

The pun on Bach's Welltempered Klavier is clear and Tedesco's music indeed compares favourably with Bach's, as became apparent with the second piece, Bach's English Suite No. 3. I am sure I have heard Julian Bream and John Williams play this before but certainly they did not perform it any better.

The excerpts from Manuel de Falla's El Amor Brujo showed clearly the influence of his Paris sojourn in the early-20th Century and I am sure I heard quotations from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, with some extraordinarily flamboyant flamenco-like percussion added to the usual method of playing.

The concert concluded with Astor Piazzolla's Otono Porteno which allowed the twins to produce even more strange noises from their guitars, scratching over the bass strings. While this was the most demanding piece, it was also the least pleasing melodically.

Despite this, the full house applauded rapturously and stamped and demanded an encore. The Katona Twins duly complied with Albeniz's exquisite Mallorca.