The double piano concerto is one of the pieces I’m most proud of, that I wrote a few years ago now for Katia and Marielle Labeque who are these incredible pianists, really unbelievably talented. We shared a concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2015, and during rehearsals, they asked me if I'd ever consider writing something for two pianos. This piece was this amazing journey of learning about their history. They’ve worked with everyone. They were discovered in the Paris Conservatory as teenagers by Olivier Messiaen, and they worked directly with him. Luciano Berio was very close to them and wrote music for them. They’ve kind of come through every era of all this important music , they bring a level of attention and dedication to music that I’ve not witnessed before. It’s a whole level of intensity and dedication with this piece, There’s a shared soul in their music, it’s so powerful. Two pianos, it’s this big, powerful sound with so many colors you can play with. There are things in each of their parts that call out the things they like doing, it’s a very personal piece.

- Bryce Dessner

“Dessner is an important composer with a developed technique and an intense emotional voice. He continues today as a major voice of his generation.”
—Steve Reich

“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.”

—New York Times By Oussama Zahr Dec. 1, 2023 USA Premiere

The effect of Dessner’s 2017 concerto for and about the Labeque 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.

- CLEVELAND.COM Nov. 27, 2021

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.

Cincinnati Business Courier
Janelle Gelfand 
CSO
Louis Langrée, conductor
Bryce Dessner Double Piano Concerto
May 4, 2024

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“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 ….”
—CADENZA Switzerland 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,…..”
—NEW YORK CLASSIC REVIEW, NY 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...”
—BACHTRACK, NY Premiere

“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.”
—Pitchfork