Today we’d like to introduce you to Medhelan Duo.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
Medhelan Duo was created from solid foundations of friendship and a deep communal love for music. My name is Matteo Generani, pianist, and my name is Doriano Giovanni Maria Di Domenico, violinist, and violist; we met for the first time in 2015 when we were classmates at the Pavia Conservatory “Franco Vittadini.” We soon realized we shared a strong passion for theoretical classes such as counterpoint, harmony, and music history. Many were long talks on music, literature, art, and life, from which we discovered a similar artistic perception and love for music. Extensive sight-reading sessions between conservatory classes were my first experience as a duo; our very first concert dated to 2018, when we performed at Lu-Monferrato for the “Monferrato Music Festival” and at the Malpensa “Flying Notes” concert season that same year, yet without an actual name for the duo. Life then proposed different plans for each of us: Matteo began his Master’s in Piano Performance at Central Michigan University, and Doriano his Master’s in Violin Performance at the Lugano Conservatory (Switzerland). We have been separated for 5 years, yet we never stop conversing about music, culture, and life. Only in 2023 did we decide to meet again in person during Matteo’s Christmas break in Italy, and we decided to record some pieces. With one of those videos, the recording of Schumann’s First Violin Sonata, we won the Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition of Bruxelles. Reunited under the sign of this victory, we decided to name ourselves the Medhelan Duo and go to Brussels for the Competition Winner’s Concert. The news of our victory attracted the attention of the Italian Cultural Institute of Brussels, which invited us to perform an additional concert in their concert hall. That experience made us realize that our duo should become a stable reality.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It depends on the perspective. From an artistic and human standpoint, beyond the legitimate and inevitable discussions that arise during our regular online encounters, making music together when we are in presence feels truly spontaneous and natural to us. It consistently stimulates and inspires us to deepen our knowledge and develop our skills each time. From this angle, having met as teenagers and sharing so much that we decided to form a permanent duo feels like a genuine blessing, a gift that not everyone is fortunate enough to receive and which we feel grateful for every day. Concerning the more strictly work-related aspects—such as managing contacts and social media platforms, planning new concerts, Building new programs, and striving at the same time to create a unique and original identity— has been the real significant challenge from the very beginning. Managing the Medhelan project – which, to our great satisfaction, has expanded in multiple directions within just one year – has never been easy, especially considering that Matteo is in the US and Doriano is in Italy for eight months of the year. Much of the work requires us to rely on daily video calls and endless messages to stay focused, connected, and coordinated.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Speaking of identity, one of the first decisions we had to make was to choose what direction to take with our project. And the choice was made upstream, starting with our name. Medhelan is the ancient Celtic name of the city of Milan, the city where our collaboration was born and grew up. This match with the Italian territory is a declaration of intent: the duo aims to promote Italian Culture worldwide, particularly to the great, well-known Italian composers of the past and the valorization of contemporary Italian music. From the historical research point of view, a large part of the project’s energies are directed into the research and valorization of an Italian author who is not sufficiently considered: Giuseppe Martucci. Matteo has been studying, investigating, and divulgating the author’s life. He has worked for 5 years now, succeeding in several projects, including the recording of a CD with 17 of the author’s pieces for solo piano – to be released in December 2024 with the NAXOS Recording Label – two public lectures in the USA and writing of an article on Martucci’s pedagogical compositions. In July 2024, Doriano will present his “Giuseppe Martucci: un genio italiano” thesis for his Viola Master Degree in Novara.
Composer, celebrated pianist, acclaimed conductor, and pedagogue Giuseppe Martucci was a leading figure of the late 19th century Neapolitan school, an essential representative of the European Romantic tradition, and a pioneer of late-Romantic and post-Romantic Italian instrumental music: a point of reference for later generations and significant influencer of the production of much 20th-century Italian music.
The Duo Medhelan would like to gradually bring his chamber music back to the attention of today’s audiences, including plans to collaborate with other musicians about different ensemble needs. All our concerts, up to date in Italy, Belgium, and Austria, have always opened with either the sonata for violin and piano Op. 22 or our transcription of the Cello Sonata Op 52 for viola and piano.
Our unique ability to perform pieces with both violin and viola within the same concert sets our duo apart, thanks to Doriano’s expertise on both instruments. This allows us to expand the repertoire of our programs and enrich the viola repertoire with autograph transcriptions. It offers the audience a rare and unique experience, as seen in our concert at the Bösendorfer Saal in Vienna on August 22, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JVe3EQ6C6M
The Medhelan Duo has also begun to establish a strong connection with Italian contemporary composers. On April 20, 2023, we premiered the Duo Op. 51, No. 3 by Giovanni Albini (https://youtu.be/K_SqiVHHzxw) and “Visione” by Andrea Gottardello (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfJe9VuUAPU) at the Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels. In Summer 2024, we are scheduled to premiere the Second Violin Sonata by Luciano Maria Serra. This connection with contemporary composers adds an exciting dimension to our work.
Our main ambition is to spread the Italian heritage not only in Europe, but all over the world. Due to our eclectic inclination, we are currently planning several different projects, such as the recording of different CDs with unreleased pieces by important Italian composers, the production and publication of original compositions and transcriptions, and an American Debut Tour in Spring 2025. We hope to inspire a global appreciation for Italian music.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Matteo’s five-year residency in Kansas City gave them a deep understanding of its opportunities, deepening its cultural tissue and meeting many artistic personalities. I found a city whose rich cultural landscape provides a fertile ground for musical expression and exploration, offering a diverse audience eager to engage with innovative musical endeavors. From intimate concert venues to grand concert halls, Kansas City’s infrastructure ensures ample opportunities for any ensemble. Therefore, such a city has all the characteristics needed to host an international and eclectic project like the Medhelan Project, which is why we have started planning our Debut Tour in America next spring. A negative aspect of Kansas City is the lack of Italian duos!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.medhelanduo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/medhelan.duo?igsh=MWtiMW4yMHBkaXU4aw==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091759533862&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@medhelanduo?si=CKSIJGvcpqKdmbEg
