This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic.
Notes and Editorial Reviews
It would be hard to imagine performances of more freshness, exuberance and charm than these.
It would be hard to conceive of a more delightful and homogeneous collection of music for young people than the three sets of French works for piano duet recorded here by Katia and Marielle Labeque: Bizet's Jeux d'enfants of 1871, Faure's Dolly of 1893-6, written for Helene, the daughter of Emma Bardac (who was later to become Debussy's second wife), and Ravel's Ma mere l'oye of 1908, written for Mimie and Jean, the children of his friends Ida and Cipa Godebsky, in whose house the musical clique known as the 'Apaches' used to meet. The only thing missing is Debussy's Children's Corner, written for his daughter 'Chouchou' in
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1906-8—but of course that is for piano solo, not duet.
It would be equally hard to imagine performances of more freshness, exuberance and charm than those given by the Labeque sisters. They capture the different moods of the 12 short movements of Jeux d'enfants to absolute perfection, whether in the swing of ''La toupie'', the gentle tenderness of ''La poupee'' and ''Petit mari, petite femme'', the galloping vigour of ''Les chevaux de bois'', the parade-ground pomp of ''Trompette et tambour'', or the sheer bravura of ''Sautemouton'' (listen to those dazzling triplets!). Dolly, too, is played with great affection and feeling, although the music itself is less sharply characterized than is Bizet's; while Ma mere l'oye is done with such an ear for colour that one can almost hear the clarinet and the contrabassoon singing their amorous diaglogue in ''Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bete''; and the glittering scales at the end of ''Le jardin feerique'' literally take one's breath away. This is, in every way, a superb recital, vividly recorded.
-- Robin Golding, Gramophone [11/1987]
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Works on This Recording
1.
Jeux d'enfants, Op. 22 by Georges Bizet
Performer:
Katia Labèque (Piano),
Marielle Labèque (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1871; France
2.
Dolly, Op. 56 by Gabriel Fauré
Performer:
Katia Labèque (Piano),
Marielle Labèque (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1894-1897; France
3.
Ma mère l'oye: Suite by Maurice Ravel
Performer:
Katia Labèque (Piano),
Marielle Labèque (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1908-1910; France
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