Antonin Dvorak
-Slavonic Dances, Op.46  
    -#1 in C (3:20´)  
    -#2 in E minor (5:01)  
    -#3 in D (4:42)  
    -#4 in F (4:23)  
    -#5 in A (2:55)  
    -#6 in A flat (4:09)  
    -#7 in C minor (3:14)  
    -#8 in G minor (3:50)  
Antonin Dvorak
-Slavonic Dances, Op.72  
    -#1 in B (4:37)  
    -#2 in E minor (6:23)  
    -#3 in F (2:58)  
    -#4 in D flat (4:17)  
    -#5 in B flat minor (3:16)  
    -#6 in B flat (3:15)  
    -#7 in C (2:55)  
    -#8 in A flat (8:15)

total time 68:06
recorded at Forde Abbey, UK
photo by Brigitte Lacombe

Which gets to my present favorite: . . . featuring Katia and Marielle Labeque. This duo takes far greater liberties with tempo and dynamics than the others I have heard . . . The Labeques storm and sigh; they caress the lyrical sections, and calculate marvelous climaxes; their zest and relish are downright infectious. One either loves or hates this sort of playing; I cannot imagine anyone being neutral toward it.
Robert McColley (Fanfare)

Dvorak´s Slavonic Dances owe their existence to Brahms´s publisher, who thought that the older composer´s Hungarian Dances might usefully have a companion. Dvorak produced the first eight in 1878, and such was their success that Simrock asked him to write some more. For a long time he resisted, saying that ´to do the same thing twice is devilish difficult´, but eventually in 1886 he wrote the remaining eight, saying, ´I think they will be completely different´. In fact, this is so: and while the first set abounds with extrovert peasant forcefulness, the second is more reflective. And as JW writes in his booklet note to this Philips issue, ´if there was no return to the former freshness, there was a gain in subtlety and range´.
Accordingly, one would expect the athletic and energetic Labeque sisters to score higher in the first half of this programme. There´s vigour a-plenty here, and unless you set your volume control with precaution, the very first C major chords of track 1 bid fair to blow you out of your room. But if you tame the initial chords, the A major episode which follows at 0´16´ is much too muted, so that those first chords must be accepted. Of course this dance is a Furiant, but listeners who like mellow piano sound should know that the attack here and elsewhere is sometimes powerful indeed. Yet I must emphasize that the Labeques are never just rough and that they can shape a tune with affection. Good examples of this occur in No. 2 in the first set of dances and No. 8 in the second (though I hear a trace of vocalizing in both) and also No. 2 in the latter set, a deeply expressive Mazurka.
The Labeque sisters offer variety from one dance to the next and the texturing in quieter pieces is a model of its kind. Indeed, the playing is convincing on its own terms and the Labeques´ impeccable ensemble is complemented by well matched pianos.
Christopher Headington (Gramophone)