Mada & Hugh Piano Duo

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...

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 sele...

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 t...

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...

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://victorca...

S01-E07 - 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. Madalina interviews Greg and explores the rich history of this remarkable mecca for music lovers. https://victorcafe.com/ https://madahugh.com  

https://madahugh.com/podcast In South Philadelphia, there is a special restaurant called The Victor Cafe, where the waitstaff sing opera arias while patrons enjoy a wonderful Italian meal. The Victor Cafe saw some of the world's most prominent musicians pass through their doors, and the walls of the restaurant are covered with their portraits.  Earlier this year, Madalina had the opportunity to in...

https://madahugh.com/podcast S01-E05 - Happy Halloween Everyone! In this episode, we play a spooky 4-hand piano version of Saint-Saëns' "Danse Macabre", arranged by Australian pianist & composer Wendy Hiscocks. This piece has been featured in pop culture and Disney cartoons and is a must-listen for the Halloween season.  The Mada & Hugh Piano Duo Podcast is sponsored by Cunningham Piano - https://...

https://madahugh.com/podcast S01-E04 - In this episode, we share our love for our favorite city in the world: New York. And what better artist to celebrate New York with than Billy Joel? We wrote a 4-hand piano arrangement of "Lullabye", written for his daughter who asked what happens after we die? We wanted to incorporate aspects of a lullaby in this performance, where both pianists play in an em...

https://madahugh.com/podcast S01-E03 - We continue our discussion about extended piano techniques with "Sabre Dance" by Aram Khatchaturian, fabulously arranged for piano 4-hands by Greg Anderson from the Anderson & Roe piano duo.  We show various ways of playing "glissando", which is a technique for rapidly sliding on the piano. And since the piano itself is a percussion instrument, why not add so...

S01-E02 - One of the best things about being a piano duo is exploring all the ways a piano can be played and the special tools that help us extend our musical capabilities. In this episode, we explore extended piano techniques with a mysterious piece by Turkish pianist/composer Fazil Say, "Winter Morning in Istanbul", where we use window squeegees to dampen the strings to produce the sounds of a T...

https://madahugh.com S01-E01 - Mada & Hugh is a new piano duo comprised of Romanian-born pianist Madalina Danila and Curtis alumni Hugh Sung . In this premiere episode, we introduce ourselves and explore the question posed by the love theme from the 1978 movie "Superman", " Can You Read My Mind? " Piano duets are among the most challenging forms of musical ensemble, requiring precise coordination...