The Iconic Labeque Sisters Return
The New York Philharmonic welcomes special guest conductor Semyon Bychkov and internationally renowned piano duo the Labeque sisters for a rousing program of Martinu and Strauss, showcasing the virtuosic pair's preternatural synchronicity and virtuosic playing. Since graduating from the Conservatoire in Paris in 1968, Katia and Marielle Labeque have honed their piano for four hands and two pianos repertoire, emerging as masters of the musical craft with the 1980 release of their Rhapsody In Blue interpretation, as well as continuous performances with the world's leading orchestras.
The evening's program begins with Martinu's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, a rarely performed but lively and immediately catchy piece rich in orchestral colours and syncopated rhythms. Its joyful, effervescent nature is juxtaposed by Strauss' epic tone poem Ein Heldenleben, which brings proceedings to a close. A musical autobiography of sorts, the sweeping piece casts the composer as the hero and pushes the orchestra to its limits in terms of volume and virtuosity. It's building, unflinching bravado ends in a shower of transcendent musical rapture that's not to be missed.