The “American dream” is the thread that connects two works for two pianos and orchestra with a third piece for piano duo, presented by pianists Ludmilla Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle with the Victor Hugo Orchestra. Dana Suesse was born in Kansas City in 1909. She played her own compositions on the radio from the age of thirteen and composed hit songs, notably for Bing Crosby. She refused the attractions of Hollywood and studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Her works disappeared from the repertory after her death, although the Berlinskaya-Ancelle duo are keen to revive her music with this 1943 concerto, described as “romantic, but mixed with modern harmonies and chords straight from jazz.” Victor Babin was born in Moscow in 1908 and emigrated to the United States with his wife Viktoria Vronskaya in 1937. As a successful piano duo in the US, they gave the first performance of Babin’s virtuosic Concerto No. 2 for Two Pianos under the direction of George SzelI in Cleveland in 1957. The program is rounded out by Amy Beach’s monumental suite for two pianos inspired by the Romantic tradition and based on ancient Irish melodies.