KATIA & MARIELLE LABÈQUE CELEBRATE 55 YEARS OF RECORDING WITH A NEW RELEASE FEATURING 55 PIECES: 25 NEWLY RECORDED & 30 ARCHIVES TRACKS
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Release date: June 12, 2026
Fifty-five years after the release of their first recording, Katia and Marielle Labèque celebrate an extraordinary artistic journey with « 55 » , bringing together new recordings and archives selection spanning more than half a century. First released in 1970 under the artistic guidance of Olivier Messiaen, the Labèque sisters’ debut album marked the beginning of one of the most singular careers in contemporary music. “Visions de l’Amen was our very first recording. We were 17 and 19. Olivier Messiaen asked us to record it,” they recall.
Beyond its musical scope, 55 is also an editorial and visual object: the booklet includes photographs by Brigitte Lacombe, tracing more than four decades of shared artistic life and friendship.
“Like many people involved in today’s music I have long been an admirer of Katia and Marielle Labèque’s performance of traditional and new concert music for duo pianos. I was very happy to hear their brilliant playing and interpretative skills with my own music. The Labèque sisters are tremendous performers and extraordinary supporters of music—not only modern music, but music itself. It was great to work with them.”
—Philip Glass
“You understood the piece perfectly and played it as I conceived it - unsentimental and with full transparency”
—Arvo Pärt
“Writing for Katia and Marielle means writing for musicians who combine precision, freedom, and an instinctive sense of colour.”
—Bryce Dessner
“Love and enthusiasm for music, and the desire to escape through it… For me, that’s what it’s about. As for Katia and Marielle, their way of playing has always moved me.”
—Luciano Berio
I—WILD IS THE WIND
1. Wild is the Wind (Dimitri Tiomkin)
2. Spiritual Suite: III. Troubled Water (Margaret Bonds)
3. Ballad of the Spirits (Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou)
4. Valse noire for M. (David Chalmin)
5. Ten Concert Etudes: IV. (Grażyna Bacewicz)
6. Trois pièces Caractéristiques: I. Allegretto (Grażyna Bacewicz)
7. Nocturne Op. 50 No. 2 (Dora Pejačević)
8. Helen's Theme (from “Candyman”) (Philip Glass)
9. Star-Cross'd Lovers: Act V: Romeo's Poison (David Chalmin)
10. The Time Curve Preludes: No. 12 (William Duckworth)
11. We Will Meet Again (Bill Evans)
12. West Side Story: Somewhere (Leonard Bernstein)
13. Canción De Amor (Paco de Lucia)
14. La vida breve / Act 2: Spanish Dance No. 1 (Manuel de Falla)
15. Carolina Shout (James P. Johnson)
16. Piano Concerto in F Major: III. Allegro agitato (George Gershwin)
II—OF A BRIGHT GARDEN
1. 4 Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 8: I. Allegro moderato (Fanny Mendelssohn)
2. 3 Mélodies, Op. 4: II. Allegretto (Fanny Mendelssohn)
3. Lieder ohne Worte V, Op. 62: I. Andante espressivo (Felix Mendelssohn)
4. Lieder ohne Worte VI, Op. 67: I. Andante (Felix Mendelssohn)
5. Suite bergamasque: III. Clair de lune (Claude Debussy)
6. 3 Morceaux: I. D’un vieux jardin (Lili Boulanger)
7. 3 Morceaux: II. D’un jardin clair (Lili Boulanger)
8. Hommage à Marie Jaëll (Muriël Bostdorp)
9. 12 Valses and Finale, Op. 8: VIII. Allegretto cantabile (Marie Jaëll)
10. Pavana-Capricho, Op. 12 (Isaac Albéniz)
11. Etude No. 110 (Hélène de Montgeroult)
12. Dolly Suite, Op. 56: 3. Le jardin de Dolly (Gabriel Fauré)
13. Ma mère l’Oye: 5. Le jardin féérique (Maurice Ravel)
14. Pavane pour une infante défunte, M.19 (Maurice Ravel)
15. Nocturnes: 2. Fêtes (Claude Debussy)
16. 8 Slavonic Dances, Op. 46: No. 5 in A Major (Antonín Dvořák)
17. Jeux d'enfants, Op. 22: 3. La poupée (Georges Bizet)
18. Jeux d'enfants, Op. 22: 12. Le bal (Georges Bizet)
19. Dolly Suite, Op. 56: 1. Berceuse (Gabriel Fauré)
20. 21 Hungarian Dances: No. 12 in D Minor (Johannes Brahms)
III—POINTS OF LIGHT
1. Memory (Luciano Berio)
2. Für Alina (Arvo Pärt)
3. Pari intervallo (Arvo Pärt)
4. Goiza Larrunen (Bryce Dessner)
5. Orphée: Act 1: III. La chambre d'Orphée (Philip Glass)
6. La Belle et la Bête: II. Les sœurs (Philip Glass)
7. Les Enfants terribles: III. The Somnambulist (Philip Glass)
8. El Chan: II. Points of Light (Bryce Dessner)
9. El Chan: V. Coyote (Bryce Dessner)
10. Le Sacre du Printemps, Pt. 1: VIII. Danse de la terre (Igor Stravinsky)
11. Hymn to a Great City (Arvo Pärt)
12. Images: Prelude 7 (Howard Skempton)
13. Images: Postlude (Howard Skempton)
14. Experiences No.1 (John Cage)
15. Trois morceaux en forme de poire: En plus (Erik Satie)
16. Avant-dernières pensées: 1. Idylle, à Debussy Erik Satie)
17. Les cinq doigts: 4. Larghetto (Igor Stravinsky)
18. Three Movements from Petrushka: 1. Russian Dance (Igor Stravinsky)
19. Visions de l’Amen: 7. Amen de la consommation (Olivier Messiaen)
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