Customer Reviews

Piano Fantasy: Music for Two Pianos [Box Set]

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The review by "Doug-Haydn Fan" is spot on. This is a wonderful collection of the Labeque sisters spanning approximately 15 years. It includes most of the recordings the sisters made for the Philips label - most discs are previous Philips albums in their entirety.

If you've never listened to the Labeques, buy it without worry, it is guaranteed to please any lover of piano music. It's filled with their characteristic energetic style and flair, but without any hint of being over done.

If you are a new fan of the Labeques, having heard some of their releases since 1996, this collection will delight you as a perfect record of what might be called the second phase of their careers, roughly from ages 30 to 45.

If you already own some of these recordings, you know this price is too good to pass up. Consider it as a perfect gift to share with friends who love classical music. Or better yet, consider it for those who aren't familiar with classical. You'll receive many thanks either way.

Lastly, these Philips recordings are magnificent. All the Philips classical recordings I've heard during this period are of the highest quality and clarity, and these are no different. The dynamic range is right at the limit of recording technology (and the human ear). Don't try to listen to these in the car (unless it is turned off), as you'll miss the most subtle details of the soft passages, then blow out your windows when suddenly the sisters are pounding the keyboards.

The sister's Labeque, Katia and Marielle, have become sort of a modern day version of Flagstad and Melchior, the Met's supreme Wagner pair of the thirties: people quite take their supreme gifts as duo pianists completely for granted. "Oh, yes, I really like them!", someone will say. Yet somehow they never seem to generate the same sort of critical attention here at Amazon other still up and coming musicians regularly receive. Certainly anyone who has attended one of their concerts cannot help but be impressed with what must be one of the most pleasureable experiences in classical concert going.

When the Labeques started off on their own company/projects Philips put together this large box set covering the first decade and a half of their career. These CDs run from the initial and famous Gershwin numbers released in 1980 and which put the duo on the musical map with a huge uproar through the Tchaikovsky numbers from 1995, with in between a wide-ranging selection of many great albums. Here we have a 6 CD box set showcasing a great deal of some of the finest and most accessible selections from these two famous artists in the two piano repetoire at a stupendous price!

The box set of six CDs comes with cardboard sleeves containing a listed program and a five page essay, "Piano Fantasy", by Max Harrison (In English, French and German) discussing the individual selections. There are 8 pages of track listings, each with timings. Save for a single black and white frontspiece photo no mention whatsoever is made of the two stars.

To my taste the selections from the French repetoire are first rate as performances, no surprise there. Also of no surprise are good work in Gershwin, with a two piano version of Rhapsody in Blue for both two pianos and another version for two pianos and orchestra. If this doesn't quite earse memories of Earl Wild it's still approapriately and well played. Arrangements by Debussy - of all people! - of three selections from Swan Lake for two pianos add a fascinating novelty, as do a further five selections from Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty ballet arranged by Sergei Rachmaninoff!

A full CD is given over to some of my favorite music, the piano music of Spain's golden age. This alone made the disc for me - great display pieces glowing with light and energy, with several two piano arrangements made by Albeniz of his most famous solo pieces. You can hear samples of this CD at Espana! / Katia & Marielle Labeque / Albeniz Lecuona Falla (Philips)

There are also two discs devoted to the famous dances of Brahms and Dvorak. You can here samples from both of these CDs at Amazon's original listings for the initial relelases. Brahms: The 21 Hungarian Dances Dvorak Slavonic Dances op 46 + 72 Lebeque Sisters (Philips) There are a several other versions of these, but the Labeque's acquit themselves well against the 'bigger' names. One just doesn't sit down and start playing two piano music, and their background with such issues as balancing the two instruments in a recording pays off. As Paul Hornung so rightly put said it in his famous commercial, "Practice, practice, practice."

A great bargain filled to bursting with outgoing, highly attractive music! If you enjoy the Labeques or piano recordings in general this should be a wondeful addition to your collection. If you have yet to purchase one of their CDs this certainly is a good place to begin!

The Labegues continue to strike out on their own with fresh ideas and in new directions, with new repetoire, DVDs, and cross-over albums that don't really sound like cross-over performances. Among my choices in their new work would be;

Having saved bundels on the Philips set you might first try the expensive but fabulous new issue; Maurice RAvel: Katia et Marielle Labeque A revisit to Ravel that must be among the exciting recordings they've done. The Rhapsodie Espagnole strikes levels of dramatic intensity not to be missed!

Katia et Marielle Labèque play Stravinsky & Debussy [CD + DVD] A wildly creative visual approach generally works quite well -very 'hip' or avant garde DVD.

In 1996 Katia on her own joined a group of outstanding partners for a fabulous jazz CD. Little Girl Blue Don't let the cover deceive you - this is 1996 CD is terrific stuff. Katia now has branched out from her sister and has been active on her own with stunning small ensembles for almost a decade.

Katia also joined Russian violinist Viktoria Mullova for a series of concerts and recordings highlighting a repetoire marked with originality in programming and distinquished musicianship.

Viktoria Mullova & Katia Lebeque in Recital

If you want to see the pair in a visual feast while playing their French repetoire check out the DVD cited below. It rises above the soupy cover's suggestion of bland daydreamy picture postcards with a wealth of fine images and a nice mix of present and past.The Loves of Emma Bardac - Katia Labeque, Marielle Labeque, Pierre Boulez

The keyboard aficionados from all over the world know that Katia and Marielle Labeque are the most famous pianistic duo on the international concert stage now. They have reigned supreme in the territory of the two keyboards repertoire for some three decades and still seem inexhaustible in musical resources when conveying its marvels. Their performances are always eagerly anticipated and greeted enthusiastically, as they are replete with uneven virtuosity and blazing sense of music-making. Therefore, I consider that Philips proved itself - once more - very inspired to gather (in a 6CD box set) and release (in 2003, to a worldwide acclaim) a great deal of the recordings made for this label by Katia and Marielle since early `80.

By this retrospective, one can not only witness their artistic development (fascinating by itself when speaking about such great artists) during that period or the steps in the evolution of the recording techniques (from ADD to DDD, detectable in the sound quality differences, yet not properly bothering), but one can also traverse almost the whole variety of European styles and enjoy a truly great music. We are offered in this collection mainly Central European music, since no less than two CDs are devoted to the complete sets of Hungarian Dances by Brahms and Slavonic Dances by Dvorak. Other 3 CDs are allocated respectively to French music (Bizet, Faure, Ravel, Poulenc, Milhaud), Spanish music (de Falla, Albeniz, Infante, plus the Cuban Lecuona) and Russian one (Tchaikovsky, Scriabin). Some pieces for piano and orchestra (Concerto in F and Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin, Double concerto by Poulenc) compound the last CD of the series.

All in all, to listen to this set is a delightful experience, mainly for it features that unmatched passion of music-making and dazzling virtuosity we have come to expect from each performance by Katia & Marielle Labeque. Gems - like the haunting Slavonic Dance op.72 No.1 in B major with its vivid rhythms and winsome tunes, or the two-piano version of the famous Rhapsody in Blue, or the wonderful Capriccio italien by Tchaikovsky, to name but a few - are also part in the enchanting effect of these recordings. Enjoy!

This is a package of 6 CDs of beautiful music played by the Labeque sisters (Katia and Marielle) with emotion and technical precision; All at a great price. You get music by Gershwin, Tchaikovsky, De Falla, Lecuona,Ravel, Dvorak, Brahms, among others. If you enjoy piano music, you will enjoy this set.

This must be the most electrifying performance I've heard of anything, ever -- and electrifying is not a word one usually associates with the Slavonic Dances.

For a decade or more, Philips distributed this recording only in Europe. Grab it while you can!

Beyond electrifying, it is by turns joyous, playful and almost unbearably wistful. You will seldom if ever find such a range of moods so masterfully expressed.

There is scarcely a single static tempo in the entire performance. The Labeque sisters seem to tease, feint, race, and chase each other across Dvorak's pages like (pardon the imagery) two of the happiest, most rambunctious dogs you've ever seen playing catch-me-if-you-can in a sunny park on an early autumn day. And yet there are thoughtful, plaintive, and somber moods as well.

After listening to this recording for years, I think I can honestly say that it has taught me more about temporal/rhythmic expression and control than all my decades of formal study of piano performance, even those I spent in one of the nation's premier university music departments. It quadruple-handedly kindled my own interest in duo performance.

Did Dvorak really envision anything quite this flamboyant, exuberant, even hyper-romantic? One suspects . . . not . . . quite. And yet how might he react to hearing this performance? I'm tempted to guess he would exclaim, "Yeehaw! Hell, yes! Now THAT's what I was talkin' about!"

If you listen really carefully, you may hear in the background a "whale song" or two at one point. Apart from that, the technical qualities of the recording are as outstanding as the artistry.

This CD has truly been a neglected milestone of pianistic performance.

This is such a complete Piano Fantasy that it seems like an overload. Any serious student of the piano, either now or at any time during your life, should hear this. The two pianos, played together, are awesome.

A short review:

These sisters are very talented.

If you are seeking for happy, very well recorded music,

you have just find the right box.

Excellent!