Press
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The Guardian (United Kingdom)
Katia and Marielle Labèque’s musical curiosity is undimmed as this handsome three-disc tribute set demonstrates…. it reveals the extent of their omnivorous appetites, from 20th-century modernism to minimalism and jazz
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The Guardian (United Kingdom)
all about the sister-pianists’ endless curiosity – a breathtaking new version of the final movement of Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite too
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The Times (United Kingdom)
a towering example of the sibling togetherness, wizardry and joy that make the Labèques' act at its best so intoxicating. Debussy's Clair de lune couldn't be more smoothly lovely. Ravel and Fauré delight, too, as do Fanny Mendelssohn and Marie Jaëll. ….. the Labèques' 55 years. May there be many more
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The Times (United Kingdom)
The eight best classical albums to listen to this month
The title of course was picked for a reason, 55 years roughly being the extent of the recording career of this inimitable French piano duo (long black hair, quirky gestures). The album also contains 55 tracks, almost half of them newly recorded, with the rest picked from past performances, mostly of 20th century fare, plus some non-classical excursions.
[...] brilliant two-piano rendition of the finale of Gershwin's Concerto in F: a towering example of the sibling togetherness, wizardry and joy that make the Labèques' act at its best so intoxicating.
Other glories multiply in the central block of tracks devoted to French and German repertoire. Debussy's Clair de lune couldn't be more smoothly lovely. Ravel and Fauré delight, too, as do Fanny Mendelssohn and Marie Jaëll. The collection's last third concentrates on modernists of various stripes, with subtle tiptoeings through pieces by Arvo Part, poignant slivers of Satie, a few gentle words from Philip Glass and, as the climax, a brazenly hard-edged track from the amazing recording of Messiaen's Visions de l'Amen that launched the Labèques' 55 years. May there be many more.
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Gramophone (United Kingdom)
In short, this highly recommendable collection represents a model of imaginative and provocative programming.
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Gramophone (United Kingdom)
Video of the Day
On 55, the Labèque sisters demonstrate their curiosity and commitment to creation, and their unique role as bridges between eras, aesthetics and musical worlds
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NPR (United States)
The continuing piano adventures of the fearless Labèque sisters a far-reaching treasure trove (...) extraordinary precision, finishing each other's musical sentences, plus warmth of tone and a palpable fearlessness. Katia and Marielle Labèque have redefined what music made for a pair of pianists can sound like. And this album proves it
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Presto Music (United Kingdom)
A densely-packed three discs of pure piano joy
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Tracking Angle (United States)
“Four-Handed Monsters”: Celebrating the Piano Duo in Two Major New Releases. Part 2 – Beauties and the Beast
The Labèque Sisters peer into the Mysterious Worlds of Philip Glass and Jean Cocteau
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Le Monde (France)
Katia et Marielle Labèque : « A deux, on a plus de force pour se battre comme pour s’amuser »
Chaque semaine, « Le Monde » interroge une personnalité sur un moment décisif de son existence. Les deux pianistes reviennent sur les origines de leur duo symbiotique.
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Télérama (France)
...À Biarritz, Katia et Marielle Labèque rendent hommage aux compositrices virtuoses trop longtemps oubliées
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Diapason
"An irrepressible curiosity and energy... an untiring need for renewal – the secret to the longevity of this explosive duo."
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Le Soir (Belgium)
multifaceted, vibrant, and deeply expressive….55 is a rich and inspired collection, carried by two artists whose curiosity remains as alive as ever.
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RONDO Magazin (Germany)
one can only marvel at how seamlessly and joyfully Katia and Marielle Labèque toss the musical ideas back and forth.
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Pizzicato (Luxembourg)
In short, a collection of refined morsels for exquisite moments of enjoyment.
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Opus Klassiek (Netherlands)
...an overview of fifty-five years of musical exploration, stylistic freedom, and uncompromising independence. ...a career that has enriched the international music world
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NPO Klassiek (Netherlands)
...Successful and unconventional life at the piano
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Sonograma
El control de les dinàmiques, la precisió del fraseig i l’equilibri entre rigor i espontaneïtat apareixen al servei d’una concepció interpretativa que evita tant l’exhibicionisme virtuosístic com la neutralitat acadèmica. Aquest retorn als orígens no té res de nostàlgic. Al contrari, permet comprendre fins a quin punt la curiositat intel·lectual, l’obertura estètica i la independència de criteri que caracteritzaven aquelles joves pianistes continuen definint avui la seva activitat artística.
55 és també la constatació que la coherència d’una trajectòria no depèn de la fidelitat a un estil concret, sinó de la capacitat de mantenir una actitud constant davant la música.
Katia i Marielle Labèque han fet una carrera excepcional precisament perquè han sabut convertir la curiositat en principi estètic i la llibertat en forma de rigor.
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26.04.2025
Klasyczna Płytoteka (PL)
English Baroque Soloists, Minkowski, Labèque & Rondeau play Mozart at the Musikverein
“Elegance and finesse; the slow movement sung in a beautiful way, lightly and freely. English Baroque Soloists playing so colourfully, in such a refined and high-quality way, and at the same time with such joy. Revelation!”
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14.11.2024
L’Echo (Belgium)
Les sœurs Labèque, pianistes : « Nous sommes toujours assoiffées d’expériences nouvelles »
« Nous avons rencontré Bryce Dessner quand nous avons créé le concerto de Philip Glass à Los Angeles en 2015. À la suite de cela, Bryce nous a écrit un magnifique concerto pour deux pianos. Nous sommes ensuite devenus de grands amis, tout en partageant l’envie de créer des œuvres de compositeurs que nous aimions – Reich, Glass, Stevens, Shaw, Andres, Lang... – et bien sûr Dessner et Chalmin. C’est ainsi qu’est né notre quatuor. Il traduit notre volonté d’approcher la musique d’une autre façon, tout en élargissant la gamme des sonorités en mélangeant piano et guitare électrique... »
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07.10.2024
Fränkischer Tag (Germany)
“Osvaldo Golijov’s ‘Nazareno’ for two pianos and orchestra, a spiritually inspired work characterized above all by Caribbean rhythms, in which the sisters Katia and Marielle Labèque mastered the solo part on the two large grand pianos, had an almost intoxicating effect. The piano duo, who are celebrated worldwide and have also been performing in Bamberg for over 40 years, appeared as usual in color-contrasting robes and once again delighted the audience with their virtuosity, which also contained many percussive elements.”
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06.10.2024
Klassik-begeistert.de (Germany)
„Die Überraschung des Abends war in jedem Falle Nazareno für zwei Klaviere und Orchester von Osvaldo Golijov […]: da erschien der Teil einer Passion in völlig ungewohntem Klangkleid. […] Sie greift auf Rhythmen zurück, die afrikanische Sklaven nach Südamerika gebracht haben, spielt mit Guaracha-, Mambo und Samba-Tänzen und wartet vor allem mit einem Schlagwerk-Instrumentarium auf, das die ganze Copa Cabana-Lebenslust in voller Farbigkeit zum Klingen bringt.
Gonzalo Grau, der das Arrangement besorgte, und Raphaël Séguinier spielten die unterschiedlichen Trommeln, das Streichinstrument Berimbau und andere Instrumente, die für die argentinische, brasilianische und kubanische Klangwelt so typisch sind. […] Das engagierte, synkopenreiche Spiel der Pianistinnen Katia und Marielle Labèque ließ erst recht keine Karfreitagsstimmung aufkommen.
Momente des Innehaltens strukturieren das mitreißende Werk, es gibt zuweilen lyrisch-wehmütige Sequenzen und jähe Abbrüche; die dynamische Zurückgenommenheit wird aber stets durch ein Vorpreschen abgelöst, alles mündet schließlich in ein Fest des Lebens. Die Kreuztragung ist hier ein tänzerischer Karnevalsumzug, […] die den Tod lebensfroh feiern und ihm dadurch den Schrecken nehmen.“
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05.10.2024
Tobias Hell
Gut angejazzt
„[…] Osvaldo Golijovs Nazareno. Eine religiös aufgeladene Passionsgeschichte, untermalt von feurigen lateinamerikanischen Rhythmen und einem ordentlichen Schuss Tequila. Wenn auch nur in der gleichnamigen Mambo-Variante, an der vor allem die Kontrabass-Fraktion hör- und sichtbar ihren Spaß hatte.
Wie einst in London waren zum Glück auch in München Katia und Marielle Labèque am Klavier im Einsatz. Die Schwestern machten nicht nur in den schnellen Sätzen ordentlich Druck, sondern hielten auch bei den in sich gekehrten, sanft fließenden Passagen mit klarem Anschlag die Spannung hoch. Freiraum bekamen sie dafür auch von Simon Rattle, der sich auf die Rolle des sensiblen Begleiters konzentrierte.“
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04.10.2024
Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany)
“Slowly, a musical powerhouse is set in motion, led by Simon Rattle and provided with momentum by Katia and Marielle Labèque, who do not spare their pianos but prove once again that the black boxes are also suitable as percussion instruments. The musicians, who have plenty of legroom, try out some dance steps.
The fourth movement alone, in which the Labèque sisters produce a silvery pianistic fabric, invites reflection: For all the carnivalesque colorfulness that the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra delivers with gusto, this is passion music.”
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June 26, 2024
Lyon Capitale (France)
Nuits de Fourvière : Cocteau à l’âge de Glass
À Fourvière, les fantastiques sœurs Labèque s’emparent de trois opéras composés par Philip Glass et consacrés aux films de Jean Cocteau. Ces Suites, arrangées pour deux pianos, bénéficieront d’une scénographie originale faisant appel aux arts numériques.
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24.06.2024
Le Petit Bulletin (France)
Katia et Marielle Labèque : « Cette trilogie est un dialogue intense entre lumière et ombre »
Rencontre / Après avoir ébloui les publics de Paris, Dublin et Londres, Katia et Marielle Labèque se préparent à retrouver le théâtre de Fourvière pour présenter leur dernier chef-d’œuvre, la Trilogie Cocteau, triptyque opératique de Philip Glass inspiré des films du génie français...
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18.06.2024
The Times (United Kingdom)
This sister piano duo are telepathic: Trilogy Cocteau/Glass
“unerring sensitivity, virtuosic ferocity, telepathic co-ordination …..I can’t imagine this music being better served….”
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18.06.2024
The Guardian (United Kingdom)
Glass’s Cocteau Trilogy perfumes the air, literally
“…elegant, wistful melodic lines that float over his rippling piano textures ….played with all the Labèques’ usual flair and precision”
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18.06.2024
The Times (United Kingdom)
“In their performance of Philip Glass’s work at the Barbican, the musicians showed unerring sensitivity, virtuosic ferocity, and what looked like telepathic co-ordination throughout. ... accompanied by overhead lighting as well as a series of scents by the perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, who has already collaborated with the sisters as well as Klaus Makela....The first thing to say about this experiment is that I can’t imagine this music being better served....The lighting fixture, designed by Cyril Teste and Nina Chalot and programmed by Mehdi Toutain-Lopez, definitely had some Parisian flair; a modernist chandelier of gold chains strung between cylindrical pendants, it channelled 1930s showgirl chic. .... catching the unexpected subtleties the Labèques were drawing like snake charmers out of these transmuted scores was one advantage of staying somewhat quizzically in the room.”
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17.05.2024
ResMusica (France)
“Katia et Marielle Labèque sont comme deux poissons dans l’eau dans cette musique envoûtante et énergique à leur image.”
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May 17, 2024
ResMusica (France)
A Lille, les soeurs Labèque, de conte en conte
Toujours flamboyantes, Katia et Marielle Labèque ont séduit le public lillois avec un beau programme où contes et monde de l'enfance, mis en musique par Maurice Ravel ou Philip Glass, étaient mis en miroir.
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May 17, 2024
ResMusica (France)
Les Labèque en ambassadrices de la Trilogie Cocteau de Philip Glass
Il était logique que Deutsche Grammophon permette à Katia et Marielle Labèque de parachever leur immersion pianistique dans la Trilogie Cocteau de Philip Glass.
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11 mai 2024
Télérama (France)
“Grâce aux résonances orchestrales de la réécriture instrumentale, à l’énergie et à l’imagination des interprètes, la narration est ardente, vivante, colorée, volontiers dansante, puissamment dramatique et étonnamment lyrique”
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04.05.2024
Cincinnati Business Courier (United States)
The pianists plunged energetically into the concerto’s keyboard-spanning runs and flourishes that open the concerto. Dessner created a stunning soundscape of orchestral textures against the powerful piano figures played by the duo pianist ...there were ravishing moments, as well, and the movement closed quietly with the pianists in a lyrical dialogue. The slow movement, with its delicate repeating tones in the piano and minimalist writing for orchestra, was beautifully atmospheric. The last movement was brilliant, driving and percussive, with a brief pause for a cadenza of lush chords and simple melody before soaring to a splashy finish. …..listeners were on their feet.
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March 28, 2024
Limelight (Australia)
Glass: Cocteau Trilogy
Glass and Cocteau find thrillingly eloquent champions in the Labèque sisters.
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23.03.2024
Les Echos (France)
“... Force rythmique...énergie vitale …..Servi par ce « quatre mains » époustouflant, Philip Glass se révèle plus envoûtant que jamais. L’ivresse musicale, c’est cela.”
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10.03.2024
X
“Exceptionnel de beauté, de densité, de maîtrise, de poésie”
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07.03.2024
Le Monde (France)
“La musique de Philip Glass continue d’attirer les spectateurs, comme le montre les concerts pris d’assaut de Katia et Marielle Labèque à la Philharmonie de Paris, consacrés à la trilogie Cocteau/Glass.”
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05.03.2024
Le Soir (Belgium)
“...la Trilogie Cocteau de Glass est, sous les doigts des sœurs Labèque, une œuvre d’une efficacité redoutable, multipliant toujours les atmosphères dans un écrin captivant. Tantôt virevoltant et joyeux, tantôt mélancolique. Révélant toujours de nouvelles couleurs, dans une interprétation fusionnelle.”
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05.03.2024
Le Monde (France)
Avec Philip Glass, la présence maximale d’une musique minimale
Le compositeur, âgé de 87 ans, a imprimé sa marque sur tous les genres, de la pop au hip-hop, du néoclassicisme à l’électro.
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04.03.2024
Libération (France)
Katia et Marielle Labèque, sœurs de son
“Les opéras de Glass, gagnent à cette réduction pour deux pianos sous les doigts des sœurs Labèque, restituant les rythmes et couleurs de ces partitions avec la vigueur, la brillance et la sobriété qui conviennent.”
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March–June 2024
Classica (France)
“Le jeu puissant des sœurs Labèque transcrit avec véhémence la passion poussée jusqu’aux limites de la folie et emporte dans un voyage dont on ne sort pas indemne...”
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01.12.2023
The New York Times (United States)
New York debut of Bryce Dessner’s evocative Concerto for Two Pianos
“Bryce Dessner’s evocative Concerto for Two Pianos a strong claim as the evening’s centrepiece ...an evocative, neatly conceived work Dessner throws all manner of writing at the pianists, who play cascading figures in canon, stuttering syncopations, gently articulated polyrhythms, jabbing chords and twinkling starbursts of notes. The Labèque sisters played with typical precision, carving out figures from the orchestral fabric with a scalpel. They found flair in clarity; long-breathed lines flowed evenly, and the interplay between the piano parts had athletic grace. They make collaboration sound like an instinctive mind meld.”
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14.03.2023
Toute La Culture (FR)
Un trio de pianistes à la Philharmonie
Le 13 mars 2023, à la Philharmonie de Paris, l’ensemble instrumental Il Giardino Armonico interprète, sous la direction de Giovanni Antonini, les concertos n° 9, 10 et 7 de Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Dédié à sa sœur Nannerl, Mozart compose son dixième concerto en 1779. Katia et Marielle Labèque entament un dialogue fructueux. Leur jeu est très fluide. La virtuosité n’efface pas la sensibilité et la délicatesse. Une interprétation qui évoque de la dentelle sonore. Lors de l’andante, l’atmosphère est plus intime, la mélodie délicate, dégage un parfum de mélancolie. Contraste avec le rondeau final, la musique est à nouveau entraînante, dansante… leur concordance, leur complicité sont parfaites… Kristian Bezuidenhout rejoint pour le concerto pour trois pianos composé en 1776. Douceur et tendresse dominent l’adagio. C’est une rêverie musicale, rendue émouvante par la sensibilité et l’expressivité des trois pianistes.
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31.10.2022
Rheinische Post (Germany)
“The French women - wide awake, emotional, meticulous without pedantry. [...] The Labèque sisters let cascades of sound rush up, the orchestra, under the direction of the Frenchman Adrien Perruchon, rises to rhythmic excesses.”
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30.10.2022
NRZ Online (Germany)
“Only afterwards (Friday at least) are there jeers and a hurricane of bravos for the pianists.”
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28.04.2022
The New York Times (United States)
Nico Muhly’s « In Certain Circles » a freedom born from confidence
“In Certain Circles was written for Katia and Marielle Labèque ….it has a freedom born from confidence, an exciting new piece — focused, phantomlike, unafraid of sentiment — from a composer who has been in the public eye, and the cross hairs of critics, since shortly after earning his master’s degree from the Juilliard School in 2004. It’s moody too ….The tone of “In Certain Circles” is consistent — wispy and vaguely ominous — but Muhly is able to tell a three-part story with it. The Labèque sisters favor rhythmic precision and quick, sharp action — a solid way to achieve clarity in the double piano repertory...”
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27.11.2021
cleveland.com (United States)
The effect of Dessner’s 2017 concerto for and about the Labèque sisters was markedly different. After that, one wasn’t so much enraptured as in shock and awe. Dessner, a polymath equally adept in the worlds of film, concert, and popular music, has penned a thrilling 20-minute work that showcases the sisters in all their glory, one that calls for their unique brand of delicacy as well as their steely ferocity and great virtuosity.
At times, it had all the gossamer beauty of a Debussy Prelude. At others, the thrashing aggression of a rock anthem. A short, robust motif was omnipresent as the sisters took turns sharing lyrical ruminations or whipping up tempests and interrupting each other with sharp barks and growls. Gimeno, too, kept up the pressure, conjuring blistering percussion and a spectrum of orchestral colors.
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22.10.2021
Slippedisc (United Kingdom)
A London orchestra dances with enfants terribles and bits of Glass
“The ‘Enfants Terribles Suite’ that followed proved, to my surprise, the evening’s masterpiece. ..... The Labèques played it with devout objectivity. While each section illustrates the moods and actions of scenes in the narrative, the work overall becomes a subtly and enchantingly poetic series of études. Here and there are echoes of many older composers (Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy) – yet they’re incidental. This music is an open-sesame of affecting rhythmic structures and intensely atmospheric pianistic colours. I want to call it the finest of the many Glass compositions I’ve heard; I congratulate Riesman on the glorious sensitivity to pianistic sound he conjures here.”
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22.10.2021
Seen and Heard International (United Kingdom)
“The Labèques and everything Philip Glass were the highlights of this Philharmonia performance”
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10.04.2019
Evening Standard (United Kingdom)
Minimalist Dream House review: Rock meets classical as Thom Yorke’s otherworldly vocals return
“the quartet settled into a surprisingly accessible performance of light and shade, during which the pair playing propulsive chords on their grand pianos tended to out-rock the scratchy, sinuous guitars.”
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09.04.2019
Grazia (France)
On y était : Minimalist Dream House, le concert des sœurs Labèque et de Thom Yorke
“les sœurs basques comptent parmi les plus grandes pianistes actuelles, aussi grandioses dans le répertoire classique qu’ouvertes aux musiques actuelles. Leur album Minimalist Dream House rendait aussi bien hommage aux pionniers de la musique minimaliste (Philip Glass, Terry Riley) qu’à leurs héritiers (Radiohead, Aphex Twin). On retiendra la création mondiale de Haven de Dessner, plus classique, et les Particules n°5 et 6 de Chalmin, …...un moment rare, précieux, où se mêlent des horizons à la fois savants et chaleureux, cérébraux et gracieux.”
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08.04.2019
Pitchfork (United States)
Thom Yorke’s Contemporary Classical Debut Is a Daring Triumph: Live Review
“electrifying pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque played a suite of old and new compositions. Bryce Dessner’s “Haven,” jumpy and shrill, with guitars that jittered up and down arpeggios, and pianos that promised redemption….The sisters played with monstrous energy...”
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June 2018
Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten (Germany)
German premiere
“Dessner creates suspense because he repeatedly emphasises the mood or lets the pulse of the melody follow. This results in amazing effects, even during the Tutti with the barely audible violins.”
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June 2018
Sächsische Zeitung (Germany)
German premiere with the Dresdner Philharmonie
“His capacity to propel energy is just as effective on the classical podium.”
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14.04.2018
Classical Voice (US)
“The Labèque sisters played a scintillating piano four-hand rendition of Ravel’s Ma mère l’Oye. In the five sections of the suite, there was unforced beauty and elegance in their playing, each finishing the other’s musical thought in complete synergy. The final ‘Fairy Garden’ was appropriately magical in its blazing glitters of rushing scales and tolling bells.”
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April 2018
Financial Times (United Kingdom)
World premiere with the London Philharmonic Orchestra
“You marvel at his ability to bleed pigments into each other, like a watercolourist.”
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26.09.2017
The New York Times (United States)
Philip Glass Comes, Finally, to the New York Philharmonic
With these performances of the Glass concerto, featuring the splendid pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque as soloists, Mr. van Zweden has filled a gaping hole in the Philharmonic’s history. Overlooking Mr. Glass’s work had to have been a deliberate choice by a succession of music directors, because, love him or hate him, he has been an influential figure in contemporary classical music for some 40 years.
And this 27-minute concerto in three movements, which had its premiere in 2015 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is inventive and unusual. The orchestra starts off abuzz with rippling, subdued riffs. Almost immediately the pianos, backed by various instruments, play a slippery theme in chords that dip and rise almost step by step.
The music is fidgety and full of harmonic shifts, run through with two-against-three rhythms. There’s a mellow, jazzy quality at play: Imagine Gershwin as a Minimalist.
Most concertos have combative passages between the soloist and orchestra. Not this one. The pianists and orchestra are like allies, and that quality persists in the darker second movement, which has long stretches in which two-note motifs keep oscillating and you can’t decide whether the mood is soothing or ominous. The pianists, like trusted guides, take the orchestra (and listeners) through a pulsing thicket of music.
There are moments when what sounds like an echo of that slippery opening theme emerges: The pianos try to catch hold of the tune and pin it down. Mr. Glass ends his concerto with a wistful slow movement. Recurring figures in triplets hover in the pianos, while a sighing, spare melody floats above in bare octaves.
The piano parts, though not showy, are detailed and difficult. The Labèque sisters played a scintillating and elegant performance, and Mr. van Zweden nicely conveyed the mix of sassiness and delicacy in the music.
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25.09.2017
United States
NY Philharmonic Opens Its Season With Mahler and Glass Under the Sure Baton of Van Zweden
Glass’ Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (2015, revised 2016) received its New York premiere, featuring the Labèque sisters, for whom it was written. It’s an attractive and absorbing piece, with more event than you might expect, and far more in the way of external reference than Glass usually gives away: I felt the Ravel G-major concerto whispering behind the second movement, and the slow wind-down of the opening movement distinctly evokes Shostakovich, whom Glass greatly admires. The Labèques played it with absolute commitment and beauty of tone, and van Zweden conducted with real feeling, so that it came over with moment-by-moment inflections that often go missing in more poker-faced specialist readings.
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13.06.2016
Le Monde (FR)
“Some nights are the work of a genius. This one, the evening devoted to Moondog at the ‘Nuits de Fourvière’ [festival in Lyon], was to have given free rein to Katia Labèque in the second half, with the group Triple Sun… Her version takes on its full meaning only after the evocation, as original as it is faithful and ambitious, of the first half with Ensemble Minisym of Amaury Cornut, 28, biographer (Moondog, Le Mot et le reste) and activist of operations for the centenary of the angel of the bizarre.”
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23.02.2014
Financial Times (UK)
“The tone was set in the Labèques’ first offering: a hauntingly delicate, immaculately refined reading of Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, in its original version for piano duo. This piece calls for featherweight fingers, and the sisters barely seemed to touch the keyboard.”
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June 2011
The Guardian (UK)
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / Simon Rattle — London, Royal Festival Hall
“The evening’s highlight was the concerto for two pianos K 365, always a good-time piece, played with tireless verve on modern McNulty fortepiano reconstructions by Katia and Marielle Labèque, and with Rattle’s attention to detail ensuring that the accompaniment never flagged.”
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June 2011
The Daily Telegraph (UK)
“When this music is played by the OAE light doesn’t just dawn, it dazzles; and even more so when Sir Simon Rattle is on the podium. … In the slow movement of Mozart’s two-piano concerto another aspect of ‘Enlightenment’ music came into view — operatic pathos, revealed in the tender duets between the two pianos. These were lovingly played by the Labèque sisters, who were fetchingly kitted out in 18th-century frock coats. The delicate colours of their 18th-century pianos added to the pathos.”
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June 2011
BBC Music Magazine (classical-music.com) (UK)
Haydn, Mozart and a visit from Madonna
“It was the ravishing Labèque sisters in their bejewelled 18th century-style coats and raven-black locks that Madge had come to see. … Beginning with a throaty trill, which on these instruments had the air of low, distant laughter, the concerto is a charming exercise in mirror images and teasing echoes, and the sisters choreographed it beautifully, accompanied with touch by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.”
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June 2011
The Times (UK)
“… the Labèques also sparkled so vividly on two fortepianos showed their virtuosity. Mozart wrote this winsome piece to showcase his own pianistic double-act with his talented sister Nannerl. It was pretty clear who was who: Katia, headstrong, physically energised, always thankfully, the more reflective Marielle supplied the lyrical ballast, and the interplay was irresistible.”
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June 2011
Volksfreund (DE)
Entfesselte Leidenschaft
„Show – diese allerdings hochvirtuos – war angesagt mit Katia und Marielle Labèque und Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts Konzert für zwei Klaviere und Orchester in Es-Dur. Einer frühen Ausgabe von ‚Alice im Wunderland‘ schienen die beiden Schwestern am Fortepiano entstiegen. Die eher schmallippigen Instrumente wurden unter ihren Händen redselig, plapperten, rasten, neckten sich und kämpften atemlos miteinander. Nach der Pause dann der Rattle, an dem wir hängen, der Meister des Rhythmus und Haydn: Das war entfesselte Leidenschaft gegen Einsicht und reife Bescheidung.“
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Cadenza (Switzerland)
Swiss premiere
“The Labèque sisters are superstars in the world of duo piano, and Dessner’s Concerto for Two Pianos relishes dissonance and tension, and dances with a visceral rhythmic playfulness ….”
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New York Classical Review (United States)
New York premiere
“A bracing Dessner Concerto the piano duo of Katia and Marielle Labèque, going strong more than 50 years into their performing career, teamed up with a youngish composer who is literally a rock star in Dessner’s Two-Piano Concerto,…..”
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Bachtrack
New York premiere
“Bryce Dessner’s 2017 Concerto for two pianos, composed for – and performed here in its New York premiere by – the legendary duo Katia and Marielle Labèque, is a terrific piece of music, engaging and appealing...
... a showcase for its soloists. Dessner gave the Labèques challenges ranging from ghostly half-pedaled memories to repetitive grooves and violently physical chordal attacks...”
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Pitchfork (United States)
“Indie rock’s preeminent classical composer offers a selection of piano pieces from minimal, to rousing, to a heroic concerto for two pianos backed by a full orchestra.”
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Vincent Théval
« La musique de David Chalmin a la clarté, la confiance et l’évidence des œuvres qui ont mûri avec le temps, reflétant une expérience qui n’est pas encombrée par des influences et des perspectives extérieures... une mélodie rayonnante et des ondes électroniques obsédantes... »