Mada & Hugh Piano Duo

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! We continue our exploration of romantic music for the month of February with a world premiere performance of "Four Hands, One Heart" by Gary Schocker. Gary is one of the world's most prolific and published composers - Hugh first got to know Gary from playing his works for flute at piano with students at Curtis, and then with some wonderful performances, collaborations and recordings together.

"Four Hands, One Heart" was written for one of Gary's students, and has 3 movements. For this episode, we will present the first two movements - "Introducing" and "Supposing".

Be sure to visit Gary's website at https://garyschocker.com/ And be sure to check out our own website at https://madahugh.com for all of our upcoming concerts!

We continue our February podcast episodes dedicated to love with this performance of "Habanera" Op. 65 by Moritz Moszkowski. Moszkowski was a German-Jewish pianist and composer who lived from 1854 to 1925. He was born in Breslau, Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland) and is known for his virtuosic piano compositions, which often blend elements of Spanish and French musical styles. Moszkowski was a prolific composer and wrote in a wide range of musical genres, including piano solos, orchestral works, and operas. He was highly regarded during his lifetime and was considered one of the foremost composers of salon music, a genre that was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Despite being largely forgotten today, Moszkowski's music remains popular among pianists and continues to be performed and recorded.

Special thanks to Cunningham Piano for providing the Bösendorfer Model 225 grand piano for us to perform on (https://cunninghampiano.com)

Be sure to visit our website at https://www.madahugh.com/tour for our upcoming concert schedule. If you're in the Philadelphia area, we'd love to see you at our March 18 recital in Clifton Heights at St. Mark Lutheran Church.

RSVP for this free concert at https://mada-hugh-piano-duo.ticketleap.com/st-mark-lutheran-church-clifton-heights/

Love is in the air! For the month of February, we are going to celebrate Valentine's Day with romantic works for piano 4-hands. In this episode, we share works by two French female composers - Mel. Bonis and Cecile Chaminade. Born in 1857, Chaminade began composing at an early age and went on to have a successful career, with her music being performed throughout Europe and the United States. Chaminade was particularly known for her piano works, but she also composed for orchestra, chamber groups, and vocal ensembles. She was the first woman to be awarded the Légion d'Honneur for her contributions to French music and was also made a Chevalier of the Order of Leopold by the Belgian government. Despite facing the challenges of being a woman in the field of music composition, Chaminade persisted and became one of the most celebrated female composers of her time.

Mel Bonis was a French composer and pianist, born in 1858. She was a talented musician who composed over 200 works in her lifetime, including works for piano, chamber ensemble, and choir. Despite her notable accomplishments, her career was plagued by personal and professional tragedies. She struggled with poverty and a lack of recognition during her lifetime, and many of her works were not published until after her death. Additionally, she lost her husband and two of her children, which deeply affected her emotionally and creatively. Despite these challenges, Mel Bonis continued to compose and perform throughout her life, leaving a significant body of work as her legacy. Her music was rediscovered in the 20th century, and in recent years, there have been efforts to promote her music and to recognize her contributions to French music. The last work we play - Valse Lente by Mel. Bonis - is actually the piece we use as our piano duo's theme song in all our podcast episodes. Now you can enjoy it in its entirety!

1. Interlude et Bacchanle - Mel. Bonis

2. Idylle Arabe - Cecile Chaminade

3. Valse Lente - Mel Bonis

Visit our website to see a list of our upcoming concerts at https://www.madahugh.com/tour

And please support us on our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/madahughpianoduo Special thanks to our sponsor Cunningham Piano for providing the space and magnificent Bosendorfer 214 VC grand piano for us to play on! https://cunninghampiano.com

Happy New Year Everyone! We kick off our 2023 season with a fiery rendition of Tico-Tico No Fuba by Zequinha De Abreu, arranged for piano 4 hands by Amaral Vieira. We were inspired by piano videos using the Synthesia app to show notes falling down onto the keyboard (see YouTuber Rousseau for example), and thought we'd try our hand at making one of these types of videos. To do so, we recorded our performance on a Bosendorfer Model 170 grand piano equipped with Yamaha's Disklavier technology, the world's most advanced reproducing piano system. We then took the recorded MIDI data and combined it with our video in an app called SeeMusic, which makes it pretty easy to make some amazing looking Synthesia/Rousseau style piano videos. What do you think? Should we make more of these types of videos? Let us know in the comments below!

Synthesia app: https://synthesiagame.com/

SeeMusic: https://www.visualmusicdesign.com/

Rousseau's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Rousseau

Cunningham Piano (our sponsors): https://cunninghampiano.com

https://madahugh.com/podcast

Vince Guaraldi's iconic Peanuts music is a staple of holiday classics everywhere, and now you can experience it just the way Mada & Hugh do – piano duet style! In this performance of Linus & Lucy, the duo takes on the iconic song with a fun, festive twist – playing it with 4-hands on one piano! This piano duo performance of Linus & Lucy is a unique way to get into the holiday spirit – and it's sure to bring a smile to your face. Watch and enjoy this performance of Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts classic, brought to life by Mada & Hugh – the piano duo you won't want to miss! This episode was brought to you by Cunningham Piano (https://cunninghampiano.com), one of America's oldest piano stores. Thanks to Cunningham Piano, we get to play on an amazing Bösendorfer Model 214 VC 7' grand piano!

https://madahugh.com/podcast

As the holiday season approaches, there is nothing quite like the sound of the Mada & Hugh Piano Duo playing "Christmas Time is Here" by Vince Guaraldi from the classic TV special "A Charlie Brown Christmas." First aired on December 9, 1965, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" quickly became a holiday staple, with its heartwarming story and beloved soundtrack. The Mada & Hugh Piano Duo's 4-hand piano arrangement, made by Madalina, perfectly captures the warmth and nostalgia of this classic tune. The delicate interplay between Madalina and Hugh's piano skills brings the song to life, with Hugh's lush harmonies complementing Madalina's intricate melodies. The result is a captivating and emotionally resonant performance that will transport listeners back to their childhood memories of the holiday season. As the song builds to its climactic finale, the Mada & Hugh Piano Duo's dynamic playing style showcases their impressive musical abilities and their deep understanding of the emotional core of this beloved song. Whether you are a fan of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" or simply looking for some holiday cheer, the Mada & Hugh Piano Duo's rendition of "Christmas Time is Here" is a must-listen. Their incredible talent and passion for this music make for a truly magical and memorable performance.

This episode of the Mada & Hugh Piano Duo podcast was brought to you by Cunningham Piano (https://cunninghampiano.com) and features a performance on the magnificent Bösendorfer 214 VC 7' grand piano.

https://madahugh.com

You can probably tell by now that we are really kids at heart! One of our favorite TV specials as kids growing up was "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Legendary jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi created the iconic music for the show, which first aired on CBS on December 9, 1965, and we thought it would be a fun project to arrange some of the tunes for our 4-hand piano duo. Madalina selected "Skating" and tried to emulate some of the physicality, sounds and sensations of skaters on the ice. She expands on the swirling melodic lines provided by Guaraldi and uses the piano to maximum effect by adding glissandos and finger pyrotechnics to showcase the dazzling effect of watching skaters perform their acrobatic moves. We hope you enjoy this rendition of a Christmas classic! This episode is brought to you by Cunningham Piano, one of America's oldest piano stores in business since 1891. Thanks to Cunningham Piano, we get to return to one of our favorite pianos to perform on, the 7' Bösendorfer 214 VC Vienna Concert grand piano.

https://cunninghampiano.com

S01-E10 - We are so excited to start a 4-part series welcoming the holidays with special 4-hand piano musical selections! In this episode, we start with a delightful work by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi titled "Noël d'enfant" (A Child's Christmas). We then play 2 selections from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's holiday ballet suite, "The Nutcracker": 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' and 'Dance of the Mirlitons'. A mirliton, by the way, is the name of a French "onion flute" (a toy flute) as well as a French pastry. Tchaikovsky himself wrote this 4-hand piano version in addition to his orchestral suite. One notable difference in this performance is that instead of staying in strict time that ballet dancers normally require, we take a cue from famed Russian cellist/conductor Mstislav Rostropovich and the Berlin Philharmonic and play these selections with more musical freedom to emulate the feelings of watching ballet dancers on stage. This episode was brought to you by Cunningham Piano, one of America's oldest piano stores with locations in King of Prussia, PA, Cherry Hill, NJ, and Delmar, DE. Cunningham Piano provided a magnificent Bösendorfer 214 VC 7' grand piano for us to perform on. https://cunninghampiano.com

https://madahugh.com

S01-E09 - In this episode, we explore a rarely heard/performed 4-hand piano concerto by the 19th century Czech/Viennese pianist and composer Leopold Koželuch (1747 - 1818). Koželuch was 9 years older than Mozart, and enjoyed a very successful career that shadowed Mozart's own, with the exception that he was much more financially successful, eventually starting his own publishing company that made his compositions so popular that he is credited for helping with the success of the fortepiano, the instrument that followed the harpsichord and immediately preceded the modern piano as we know it today. We were recently invited to perform Koželuch's 4-hand piano concerto with Maestro Robert Butts and The Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey. This episode was brought to you by Cunningham Piano, one of America's oldest piano stores still in existence. We play excerpts of Koželuch's concerto on a magnificent Bösendorfer Model 225 7'4" grand piano that comes with 4 extra bass keys.

https://cunninghampiano.com

https://madahugh.com

https://baroqueorchestra.org/

Greg DiStefano is the grandson of John DiStefano, who founded The Victor Cafe in Philadelphia, a famous Italian restaurant where the waitstaff all sing operatic arias during dinner. In part 2 of Madalina's interview with Greg, they talk about how Greg came back to the family business after a career in computers, and what his hopes and dreams are for the future of The Victor Cafe.

https://victorcafe.com/

https://madahugh.com