Pianist Series: Katia and Marielle Labèque

Katia and Marielle Labèque

The Labèques are legendary. For decades, Katia and Marielle Labèque have represented the pinnacle of piano duos, performing music for four hands and two pianos. The sisters have collaborated with composers like Berio and Ligeti, and their recording of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue earned them one of the first gold records in classical music. The French sisters can do it all, whether it's contemporary, jazz, or rock. In the Grote Zaal, they will perform works by Schubert and Ravel alongside the living legend Philip Glass.

The most beautiful works for piano four hands

Schubert was deeply in love with Caroline Esterházy, his 17-year-old piano student. She was beautiful and of noble birth, making a relationship impossible. The closest they could be was during the performance of the Fantasie in F minor, which he dedicated to her. Whether they told each other fairy tales or if the title La Belle et La Bête applied to them, we do not know. We know and hear that piano music for four hands can bring joy.