The Labèque sisters, Katia (born 11 March 1950) and Marielle (born 6 March 1952), are an internationally known French piano duo.

Biography

Education and first performances

Katia and Marielle were both born in Bayonne, on the southwest coast of France near the Spanish border ( Northern Basque Country). Their father was a doctor, rugby football player and music lover. He sang in the Bordeaux Opera choir. The sisters' first teacher was their Italian mother, Ada Cecchi (a former student of

Marguerite Long Marguerite Marie-Charlotte Long (13 November 1874 – 13 February 1966) was a French pianist, pedagogue, lecturer, and an ambassador of French music. Life Early life: 1874–1900 Marguerite Long was born to Pierre Long and Anne Marie Antoin ...

), who began lessons when her daughters were three and five years of age. Upon graduation in piano from the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

in 1968, the two began working on piano four hands and two pianos repertoire. They recorded their first album ''Les Visions de l'Amen'' of Olivier Messiaen under the artistic direction of the composer himself. They then undertook performance of contemporary music, performing works by

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled '' Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

, Pierre Boulez,

Philippe Boesmans Philippe Boesmans (17 May 1936 – 10 April 2022) was a Belgian pianist, composer and academic teacher. He studied to be a pianist at the Royal Conservatory of Liège, and was self-taught as a composer, influenced by the Liège Group of Henri Po ...

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century ...

and Olivier Messiaen.

International career

While some degree of recognition came with this performance repertoire, their true celebrity arrived when their 1980 two-piano recording of Gershwin's ''

Rhapsody in Blue ''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition written by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work premiered i ...

'' sold over a half million copies. Beyond the traditional classical repertoire, their repertoire extends to contemporary classical music,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

minimal music Minimal music (also called minimalism)"Minimalism in music has been defined as an aesthetic, a style, and a technique, each of which has been a suitable description of the term at certain points in the development of minimal music. However, two o ...

, baroque music on period instruments, and even

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

and

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

. They discovered baroque music with Marco Postinghel and commissioned the construction of two Silberman

fortepiano A fortepiano , sometimes referred to as a pianoforte, is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1698 up to the early 19th century. Mo ...

s in 1998. They played these instruments with

Il Giardino Armonico Il Giardino Armonico ("The Garden of Harmony") is an Italian ensemble well noted for its practice of Historically Informed Performance and founded in Milan in 1985 by Luca Pianca and Giovanni Antonini, primarily to play 17th- and 18th-century mus ...

conducted by

Giovanni Antonini Giovanni Antonini (born 1965) is an Italian conductor and soloist on the recorder and baroque transverse flute. He studied in his native Milan, and attended the Civica Scuola di Musica in that city and the Centre de Musique Ancienne in Geneva. In 1 ...

Musica Antiqua Köln Musica Antiqua Köln was an early music group that was founded in 1973 by Reinhard Goebel and fellow students from the Conservatory of Music in Cologne. Musica Antiqua Köln devoted itself largely to the performance of the music of the 17th and 18t ...

conducted by Reinhard Goebel (

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

commemoration year in 2000),

the English Baroque Soloists The English Baroque Soloists is a chamber orchestra playing on period instruments, formed in 1978 by English conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Its repertoire comprises music from the early Baroque to the Classical period. History The English B ...

conducted by Sir

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Life and career Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Ga ...

, the Venice Baroque Orchestra conducted by

Andrea Marcon Andrea Marcon (born 6 February 1963 in Treviso, Italy) is an Italian conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and scholar. In 1997, he founded the Venice Baroque Orchestra.Kozinn, Alla"Young Italians Stand at Attention, Which Their Ensemble Attracts" ...

, and with the

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera Artistic Associate at Kings Place, and h ...

conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. They performed for 33,000 people at the

Waldbühne The Waldbühne (''Woodland Stage'' or ''Forest Stage'') is a theatre at Olympiapark Berlin in Berlin, Germany. It was designed by German architect Werner March in emulation of a Greek theatre and built between 1934 and 1936 as the Dietrich-Eckar ...

gala concert, the last concert of the 2005 season of the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

., and for more than 100,000 people in May 2016 at

Schönbrunn Palace Schönbrunn Palace (german: Schloss Schönbrunn ; Central Bavarian: ''Schloss Scheenbrunn'') was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning “beautiful spring”) has its root ...

with the

Vienna Philharmonic The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...

conducted by Semyon Bychkov. Many works have been written especially for them, such as "Linea" for two pianos and percussion by

, "Water Dances" for two pianos by Michael Nyman, "Battlefield" for two pianos and orchestra by Richard Dubugnon, "Nazareno" for two pianos, percussion and orchestra by

Osvaldo Golijov Osvaldo Noé Golijov (; born December 5, 1960) is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor, known for his vocal and orchestral work. Biography Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family ...

and Gonzalo Grau, "The Hague Hacking" for two pianos and orchestra by

Louis Andriessen Louis Joseph Andriessen (; 6 June 1939 – 1 July 2021) was a Dutch composer, pianist and academic teacher. Considered the most influential Dutch composer of his generation, he was a central proponent of The Hague school of composition. Although ...

, "Capriccio" by

, "Concerto for two pianos and orchestra" by Philip Glass performed in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by

Gustavo Dudamel Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist who is the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera. Early life Dudamel was ...

. Katia and Marielle have expanded the repertoire for two pianos and percussion with works such as the first instrumental version of ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

'', transcribed by

Irwin Kostal Irwin Kostal (October 1, 1911 – November 23, 1994) was an American musical arranger of films and an orchestrator of Broadway musicals. Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, Kostal attended Harrison Technical High School, but opted not to at ...

(orchestrator of the original musical), and the version for two pianos and

basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

percussions of Maurice Ravel's Boléro. They premiered "Four Movements" for two pianos by Philip Glass in France, England, and Italy (where in the summer of 2011 they opened the 48th Edition of the Chamber Music Festival of

Cervo, Liguria Cervo ( lij, O Çervo) is a small, ancient town and ''comune'', built on top of a hill along the Italian Riviera in the province of Imperia. It has approximately 1,200 inhabitants. Overview The settlement began as a Roman mansion along the Via ...

) and Cuba. In November 2011, they premiered the project "50 Years of Minimalism" at

Kings Place Kings Place is a building in London’s Kings Cross area, providing music and visual arts venues combined with seven floors of office space. It has housed the editorial offices of ''The Guardian'' newspaper since December 2008 and is the for ...

(

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) with works of John Cage, David Chalmin, William Duckworth, Arvo Pärt, Michael Nyman,

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for ...

, Steve Reich, Howard Skempton, etc.

Recording career

Between 1970 and 1997, they recorded many albums for Erato (

Warner Classics Warner Classics is the classical music arm of Warner Music Group. The label began issuing new recordings under the Warner Classics banner in 1991. The company also includes the Erato Records, Teldec Records and NVC Arts labels. Based in France, ...

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in ...

EMI Classics EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged in 1996, its recorded mus ...

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

, and Decca Records. They then ceased recording for 10 years before creating their own classical

music label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

''KML Recordings'' in 2007 in Italy. Beyond their own records, they produce young bands and musicians of different musical backgrounds, such as

(B for Bang DimensionX, Dream House, Red Velvet) and

traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

( Mayte Martin, Kalakan). For example, they produced the first album by Kalakan and they introduced them to their friend Madonna in 2011. After this meeting, the trio participated in her

MDNA Tour The MDNA Tour was the ninth concert tour by American singer Madonna, launched in support of her twelfth studio album, '' MDNA'' (2012). Comprising 88 shows, the tour began on May 31, 2012, in Tel Aviv's Ramat Gan Stadium and concluded in Cór ...

in 2012. In June 2016 they joined the

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

record label for the distribution of their

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

KML Recordings. They also created their own foundation in 2005 "Fondazione Katia e Marielle Labèque" in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, with the goals of promoting the relationship between music and image, commissioning new works for two pianos, and supporting experimental music groups. Their first project in 2009 supported the young filmmaker

Tal Rosner Tal Rosner (born in Jerusalem, 9 June 1978) is a London-based Israeli filmmaker and video artist. Biography Tal Rosner is a graduate of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem (2000–03) and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Desi ...

. In 2012, they created their own recording studio called "Studio KML", in an ancient school in

as a meeting point between all the musicians of their Foundation and the KML Recordings label. Their first recording in this place was the "Minimalist Dream House".

Personal lives

Katia Labèque's boyfriend is David Chalmin, composer, producer and singer/guitarist of the band Triple Sun. She was formerly married to English guitarist

John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra * Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter * John McLaug ...

and she was also a member of his band in the early 1980s. Marielle Labèque is married to the conductor Semyon Bychkov. The sisters still live together; they moved to

in 1987, to a palace in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

in 1993, and since 2005 they have lived in a palace that belonged to the Borgia family of

Discography

Recordings in duet

* 1969 : Olivier Messiaen, ''Visions De L'Amen'' * 1970 : Bartok, ''Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion'' * 1972 : Rachmaninov, ''24 Preludes & Suite No. 2'' * 1972 : Hindemith - Martinu * 1979 : Marius Constant : ''Psyche'' * 1980 : Gershwin, ''Rhapsody In Blue / Piano Concerto In F'' * 1981 : Brahms, ''Hungarian dances'' * 1982 : Scott Joplin, ''Gladrags'' * 1983 : Liszt, ''Réminiscences de Don Juan'' * 1984 : Rossini, ''Petite messe solennelle'' * 1984 : Gershwin, ''An American in Paris'' * 1985 : Bizet, Fauré, Ravel * 1987 : Stravinsky, ''Petrouchka / Concerto For 2 Pianos'' * 1987 : Gershwin, ''I got Rhythm - Music for Two Pianos'' * 1988 : Bernstein, ''Symphonic dances and songs from West Side Story'' * 1990 : ''Love of Colours'' * 1990 : Dvorak, ''Slavonic Dances Op. 46 & 72'' * 1991 : ''Encore !'' * 1993 : ''España !'' * 1994 : Tchaikovsky, ''Piano fantasy : music for two pianos'' * 1996 : ''En blanc et noir - Debussy Album'', including ''

En blanc et noir ''En blanc et noir'' (; en, "In White and Black"), L. 134, CD. 142, is a suite in three movements for two pianos by Claude Debussy, written in June 1915. He composed the work on the Normandy coast, suffering from cancer and concerned about the in ...

'' * 2001 : Brahms - Tchaikovsky - Debussy (compilation album) * 2003 : ''Piano Fantasy'' (compilation album - 6 CD box) * 2006 : Maurice Ravel * 2007 : Stravinsky / Debussy * 2007 : Schubert / Mozart * 2009 : Erik Satie * 2010 : ''The New CD box'' * 2011 : Gershwin-Bernstein, ''Rhapsody in Blue - West Side Story'' * 2011 : ''Nazareno'' * 2013 : ''Minimalist Dream House'' * 2014 : ''Sisters'' * 2016 : ''Invocations'' * 2017 : ''Love Stories''

Recordings with collaborators

* 1981 : ''Gershwin's songs'' with

Barbara Hendricks Barbara Hendricks (born November 20, 1948) is an American operatic soprano and concert singer. Hendricks has lived in Europe since 1977, and in Switzerland in Basel since 1985. She is a citizen of Sweden following her marriage to a Swedish c ...

* 1984 : Prokofiev, ''Peter and The Wolf'' and Saint Saëns, ''Le Carnaval des animaux'' with Itzhak Perlman and the

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is an Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert venue ...

conducted by

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

* 1985 : Gershwin, ''Rhapsody in Blue'' with the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Se ...

conducted by Riccardo Chailly * 1985 : Bartók, ''Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion; Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra'' with the

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...

conducted by sir Simon Rattle * 1988 : John McLaughlin, ''The Mediterranean Concerto'' Tracks: Brise de Coeur, Montana, Two Sisters, Until Such Time, Zakir * 1989 : Poulenc, ''Concerto for 2 Pianos'' with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa * 1989 : Mozart, ''Piano Concerti'' with the

conducted by Semyon Bychkov * 1990 : Mendelssohn / Bruch, ''Piano Concerti'' with the Philharmonia Orchestra * 1997 : ''Carnival'' with Elton John, Madonna, Paul Simon,

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

, Sting,

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

, among others, ... * 2008 : ''De fuego y de Agua'' with

Mayte Martín Mayte Martín (born in Barcelona, Spain, April 19, 1965) is a Flamenco cantaora (singer), bolero singer, and composer. She is widely recognized as one of the most important flamenco voices of her generation. She has also devoted part of her care ...

* 2009 : Katia Labèque ''Shape Of My Heart'' * 2016 : ''Double Concerto For Two Pianos And Orchestra'' with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by

* 2016 : ''Summer Night Concert'' with the

conducted by Semyon Bychkov

Filmography

* 1990 : ''The Loves of Emma Bardac'', telefilm by Thomas Mowrey * 2000 : ''The Italian Bach in Vienna'', concert with

* 2000 : ''

The Man Who Cried ''The Man Who Cried'' is a 2000 drama film written and directed by Sally Potter, and starring Christina Ricci, Cate Blanchett, Johnny Depp, Harry Dean Stanton and John Turturro. The film tells the story of a young Jewish girl who, after being ...

'', film by Sally Potter * 2005 : ''Waldbühne 2005'', concert with the

conducted by Sir Simon Rattle * 2005 : ''

I'm Going to Tell You a Secret ''I'm Going to Tell You a Secret'' is a 2005 American documentary film that follows singer Madonna on her 2004 Re-Invention World Tour. Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, the film premiered on MTV on October 21, 2005, and was released on DVD on Jun ...

'', documentary about Madonna * 2012 : ''The Labeque way'', documentary by Felix Cabez * 2016 : ''Summer Night Concert'', concert with the

conducted by Semyon Bychkov

Bibliography

* 2016: ''Une vie à quatre mains'',

Renaud Machart Renaud Machart (born 22 March 1962) is a French journalist, music critic, radio producer and music producer. Biography Renaud Machart was born in Lannion, and first studied music under the direction of his father and then with Claudette Bohn, pro ...

, Buchet/Chastel,

References

External links

Official website

Fondation KML

KML recordings
* , WNCN-FM, October 29, 1982 {{DEFAULTSORT:Labeque EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists Deutsche Grammophon artists 20th-century French women classical pianists 21st-century French women classical pianists Sibling musical duos Classical piano duos Living people People from Bayonne French people of Italian descent Conservatoire de Paris alumni 1950 births 1952 births