WEBVTT

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That was Clementin Bonjour's arrangement of Margaret

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Bond's Troubled Water and it was performed by

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Katia and Marielle Labeck. I'm Erica Worth and

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welcome to this pianist podcast. I'll be speaking

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with the sisters about their new project for

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Deutsche Grammophon which marks 55 years of recordings.

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Katia and Marielle, it's great to have you on

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the pianist podcast today. Thank you so much.

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It's great to be back with Pianist again. Oh,

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thank you. I know it's been a long time. So long.

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Anyway, today we're here to talk about your new

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three CD project called 55, which comes out on

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the 12th of June on the Deutsche Grammophon label.

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Now, I have to say, what a great idea to celebrate

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55 years of recording with 55 tracks. Whose idea

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was it? My sister's idea. it was her idea yeah

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we like 55 because it's like twice you know five

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five oh so this is what you would have been not

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as good with 60 or whatever in few years so we

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say okay we need to catch twice five with our

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hands yes that's that's good but you started

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your recording career 55 years ago Yes, exactly.

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1970 with Olivier Messiaen for Les Visions de

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la Mène. That's amazing. That's really quite

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amazing. In fact, we even recorded, we were 17

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and 19, and he went out in 1917. Yes. 71. No,

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1917. 70. Yeah. That's exactly 25 years. We decided

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to record the missing pieces. I mean, all the

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new pieces last year. And that was 2025. So it

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was exactly 55 years. Amazing. And what was it

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like to work with him? Oh, that was so easy.

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You know, when you're a teenager and you got

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in a recording studio for the first time and

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you have this giant who tells you exactly what

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to do, the tempo, the dynamics, the articulation,

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the meaning, everything. So that was, we just

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had to follow him. That was easy. Amazing. We

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could play. We could play. Wow. Well, this is

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what's interesting. You were 17 and 19, as you

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said. How were you actually discovered? How did

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your career begin? I think really with this recording.

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This recording started already when we went out

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from Paris Conservatory in 68. We were 18 and

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16. That was the first time that Sue... two sisters

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got first prize on the same year, same exam in

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Paris Conservatory. So, of course, that was quite

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a sensation thing in Paris. And we got quite

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a lot of press coverage at this moment. And that

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started the CD, really. Yes. Wow. So you got

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first prize as a duo. No, no. As is. Yeah, not

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that. You know, duet is still not considered

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in any conservatory as a valid form of music

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because, you know, at this time we had to enter

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as a soloist and we went out as soloists. So

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each of us, we got the first prize. Marielle

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got her first prize. I got my first prize. Then

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after that, we decided to form a duet. And I

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was really lucky that... We were just forming

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the duet when Messiaen entered the room where

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we were practicing his music and asked us to

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play for him. And after that, he said, OK, I

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need to record those pieces. Would you record?

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you know instead of me because i cannot play

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and of course we say yes in fact it was the way

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to stay longer at paris conservatory because

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in fact it was no class chamber music for two

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pianos yes and my sister she was very young but

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she asked for a meeting with the director and

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she said that in fact it is chamber music i mean

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chamber music is just to play with with other

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musicians and to share music together i mean

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why a trio string quartet is louder than two

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people Or even a violin piano duet. Absolutely.

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Would have been accepted, not the piano duet.

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And finally, he accepted. So it was the first

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time in Paris Conservatory that there was a class,

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chamber music for two pianos. So we could re

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-enter together. And then we started working

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with a very good musician called Jean Hubeau.

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And then we went to hear Michel Berhof. I remember

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at this period, he was playing Messiaen extremely

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well. I mean, he was 16 years old. He was impressive.

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And I was so impressed by the concert. And then

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Michel gave her the score of Les Visions d 'Amène,

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Olivier Messiaen. So we started working on it.

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We did with Jean Hubeau. And then one day, Olivier

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Messiaen passed. He heard his music and he entered

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the room. He wanted us to play for him. And then

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he asked us if we would agree to do the... the

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recording under his direction. So it's amazing

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to start like that when you're 18, I would say

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17 and 19, you're right, because we were very,

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very young. So it was, yeah, it was a very beautiful

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beginning because after that we met Luciano Berlioz.

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Thanks to Messiaen. Thanks to Messiaen. Thanks

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to Messiaen. Thanks to Berlioz. And then Ligeti,

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thanks to Boulez. So each composer introduces

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us with the next composer. Yeah. It's amazing.

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It was a very beautiful story. And then on this

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recording, we have a piece called Memory from

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Luciano Berrio. And we played it, but we never

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recorded it. So this one is new because on those

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55, we did not record 55 new. As Katia was saying,

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we started with pieces we recorded in 1970. And

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then we did more new pieces, like 25 new pieces.

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So it was a beautiful idea. It was a lot of time

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of logistic. and the order of the music. I mean,

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it was quite... Quite complicated because we

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were changing our mind every day. Finally, we

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agreed. We also wanted to introduce music we

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never played before, like this 19th century music

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written by women, like Hélène de Montgerou, who's

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a genius, like Fanny Mendelssohn, who was really

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blocked. We had letters that we could not believe

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from her father. brother telling Fanny, you should

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really just take care of your home and take care

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of your, you know, that is what you're doing

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well, but not being a composer because this is

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a serious thing. Only men could be. as serious

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as composer but not women you know so that would

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be so we were so shocked discovering all that

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that we say we need really to put some of their

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music in in a way strange way the women today

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they have a better place than they had at 19

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or beginning of 20th century that was really

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much more difficult for them today it's accepted

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and we have women and we played already quite

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a lot of them and it's okay but we never played

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this period of you know of time with music written

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by women. That we never did. So that was, yeah,

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as Marielle was saying, it was really difficult

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because it was a lot of pieces to play. A lot

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of choice. Also, we've been listening to so much

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music. At the end, the pieces we always preferred

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were the pieces for solo piano. This is why we

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did some transcription for, you know, for hands.

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And in a way, it's not... more easy to play for

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hands. It's much more difficult for all the rubato,

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the articulation, the tempi. I mean, that's really...

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But we thought, okay, we play since 55 years

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together. We surely are able to manage that and

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to manage to find a new... vision of those pieces,

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because when you play them forehand, you hear

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different voices, in fact. It's a dialogue very

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often between the bass melody, the high melody,

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and that was really fascinating for us to start

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getting into. this music you know together and

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not as a solo on the record few pieces are solo

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like Marielle plays this amazing study from Grazina

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Bashevich and she's also an amazing composer

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and and that of course she had to play solo but

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then the other one the piece characteristic we

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play four hands no it's amazing yeah i know i

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recognize some of them immediately like the fanny

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mendelsohn leader yes Wonderful. And the Hélène

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de Montgerou, étude number 110. I mean, it's

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amazing. You know, she was quite, each of those

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women had amazing story, all of them. And Hélène

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de Montgerou, she was a noble. So she could have

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been killed at the moment of the revolution.

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And they say she saved, her husband was killed.

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I mean, you know, but she saved apparently her

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life. saying the torturers that she could improvise

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on La Marseillaise. So they brought her a piano,

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a forte piano, and she improvised for hours on

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La Marseillaise. And after that, they say, oh,

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yes, then you are a real revolutionary and you

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will be saved. She was lucky. And she was accepted

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at the conservatory in France. She was the first

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teacher. teacher at the paris conservatory so

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they all have a quite amazing story i mean all

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of them even yes also working with india boulanger

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yes yeah which is uh yeah it's amazing grazina

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bashevich really changed the world of music in

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poland because we are friends with christian

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zimmerman and i asked christian i say uh who

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is the most interesting and she said because

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i had some other uh composer in in view you know

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polish and she said no definitely the most interesting

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the one who changed the music because she wrote

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all i think before lutoslawski with before panderewski

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you know and she says grazina bashevich and So

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this is how... It is little. It's just a few

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minutes because also for this idea of 55, we

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really had to do short pieces. Short pieces.

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Of course. We already were three CDs. So it's

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short, but anyway... Not just Dutch gramophone

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would have killed us. It would have been a CD

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box of eight CDs. But what I noticed... It was

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not possible. No. What I noticed, though, is

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three CDs, but each one offers up a different

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theme. Yes, it's true. Yeah, because the first

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one we call has the song from Nina Simone, because

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Nina Simone grew up as a classical pianist. But,

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as she said... because of the color of her skin

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he was not allowed to perform in the classical

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concert hall so she invented her own world her

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own songs her own music and she said oh my music

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is black classical that was a reference for the

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music you know and we took this this song that

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she did not write the melody of the song but

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she played it live in new york and doing a lot

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of arpeggios difficult you cannot do that if

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you don't have if you're not a classical pianist

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you know so she did that and it was so impressive

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that we had you know Michael Blaski from Los

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Angeles he transcribed exactly everything she

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played and that's what on the record and that's

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our homage to Nina Simone because she's an amazing

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artist really and a wonderful composer. And she

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appears on the first of the three CDs and that's...

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Wild is the Wind is more really about those women

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who were wild enough to start. writing music.

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So you have also Emma Hoy, Tsege Mariam Guebru.

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I don't know if you knew her. No, no. She was

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a nun. She was a nun in a convent. She is from

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Ethiopia. And at the moment of the revolution

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in Ethiopia, she had to escape her country. She

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would have liked to come to London to study,

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but that was denied to her. So she ended up in

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a... in Jerusalem all her life, improvising her

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own music. What's her name again? What's her

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name? Her name is very complicated. Emma Hoy.

00:13:58.629 --> 00:14:04.549
Oh, okay. Weberé, Zégué, Weberé, Marianne. Emma

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Hoy, Marianne, Zégué, Weberouf. Emma Hoy, Zégué,

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Marianne, Weberouf. Did you get the record? Actually.

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i didn't get the record but actually i have the

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track listing somewhere so you have it then i'll

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let you i'll let listeners know absolutely you

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you will have a complete right autograph Goodness,

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goodness, goodness. Great names. She died, she

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was 100 years old and she died in a convent.

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And she wrote very few things, but mostly all

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those tapes recorded. And we, again, we transcribed

00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.200
some of her. But this piece I play solo because

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it would have been difficult because she used

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a lot of rubato. Her music is a very strange

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mix of sati, blues. Yes. It's very, very, and

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she used a lot of rubato, so it's difficult to

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do the piece we choose on two piano or four hands,

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but I did it solo. But she's a wonderful artist,

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really. So this one also has a story. Oh, Lili

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Boulanger. She was a sister of Nadia Boulanger,

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and she was Prix de Rome. She was 19 years old.

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She was the first woman. to be Pri de Rome. And

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he died, he was 24. And at the end of her life,

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she was so weak that Nadia had to write the music.

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She was in her bed and she was dictating to her

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sister the music. And Nadia was writing the music

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she was dictating to her because she was too

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weak to hold. And there were two amazing sisters,

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so that's why it's nice also to have little homage.

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I mean, they're very, very short. But the contact

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she wrote when she got the first price in Roma

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was quite amazing, really. But she was sick already

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when she was two years old. She was very, very

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kind of pneumonia, which she had until the end

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of her life. It's very sad. It's a shame, isn't

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it? We don't know what she would have produced.

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Exactly. That's so right. That's exactly what

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we kept saying because she was 24. Can you imagine?

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And she wrote the most amazing music. Terrible,

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terrible, terrible. Your second album sounds

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lovely. It's all about gardens and childhood.

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Yes, because that's a piece we started to play.

00:16:45.710 --> 00:16:48.990
Actually, the first piece was Gabrielle Foray.

00:16:49.029 --> 00:16:52.980
That was Dolly. And it was so difficult for us.

00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:56.360
We kept fighting because we, you know, on four

00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:59.299
hands, you need to divide the keyboard. So we

00:16:59.299 --> 00:17:01.700
were saying, oh, you take all my space or no.

00:17:01.820 --> 00:17:05.339
Or sometimes she would hold one note and then

00:17:05.339 --> 00:17:07.640
coming back on the note, I could not play it.

00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:11.109
So now we understand why. what was the difficulty

00:17:11.109 --> 00:17:13.970
but that was yeah and ravel of course because

00:17:13.970 --> 00:17:17.710
we were born few kilometers away from ravel house

00:17:17.710 --> 00:17:21.329
you know and ravel was basque he was speaking

00:17:21.329 --> 00:17:28.279
ashkara the basque language and And we grew up

00:17:28.279 --> 00:17:32.000
with this music. Our mother was a pupil of Marguerite

00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:35.700
Long. And Marguerite Long herself was a friend

00:17:35.700 --> 00:17:39.720
with Gabrielle Fauré, with Claude Debussy, with

00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:42.640
Maurice Ravel. So we had this French tradition

00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:46.099
in us. And that's the way we started music. It

00:17:46.099 --> 00:17:48.940
was to play French music. So your mother studied

00:17:48.940 --> 00:17:52.240
with her, your mother. She studied with Marguerite

00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:55.380
Long. Yeah. And Marguerite Long was his famous

00:17:55.380 --> 00:17:58.119
French pianist. Of course. Who created a lot

00:17:58.119 --> 00:18:01.460
of pieces from Ravel, from Fauré, from Debussy.

00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:06.359
So my mother was a pupil. Yeah. So you grew up

00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:08.660
in a musical household. Yeah, that's for sure.

00:18:08.819 --> 00:18:11.160
It was so joyful. Yeah, that was helpful. Because

00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:13.559
the pupils were coming and it was music from

00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:16.700
morning until the evening. So it's the best way,

00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:18.480
I think, to come to learn music. So your mother

00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:21.420
was a teacher. Exactly. She was a pianist. It

00:18:21.420 --> 00:18:24.380
was very natural and she was teaching us also.

00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:28.460
But music was just part of our life. Yeah, it

00:18:28.460 --> 00:18:31.859
was not a dramatic thing. It was normal for us

00:18:31.859 --> 00:18:34.660
to enter a house and find a piano. that was something

00:18:34.660 --> 00:18:38.200
normal if we would go to some we were invited

00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:42.009
to people house and they would not have piano

00:18:42.009 --> 00:18:45.809
we thought that was very very strange and were

00:18:45.809 --> 00:18:48.910
you often asked to play when you went to people's

00:18:48.910 --> 00:18:52.369
houses yeah we hated that i have to say that

00:18:52.369 --> 00:18:55.910
we really hated that to play for people at the

00:18:55.910 --> 00:19:00.210
end of the dinner no we always refused how interesting

00:19:00.210 --> 00:19:03.230
no it's true it was it was really the the best

00:19:03.230 --> 00:19:05.130
way she was wonderful she was a wonderful teacher

00:19:05.130 --> 00:19:07.410
which is hard i would be i would not be able

00:19:07.410 --> 00:19:10.569
to teach especially with kids because i would

00:19:10.569 --> 00:19:14.440
be on their charm. But you have to be very tough

00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:21.579
with kids. Discipline is so important. That's

00:19:21.579 --> 00:19:25.319
what she gave us. It was wonderful. Because you

00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:27.839
can imagine, you know, at this period in the

00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:30.579
Basque Country, it was nothing, not one concert.

00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:35.200
No internet, no concert and no television. I

00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:37.539
mean, there was no concert on television. So

00:19:37.539 --> 00:19:40.140
we really started to have music like that. Books

00:19:40.140 --> 00:19:44.380
and And records. And she knew, she thought, you

00:19:44.380 --> 00:19:47.500
guys, you've got to go and study in Paris. Oui,

00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:50.519
yeah. That's what she wanted us, because when

00:19:50.519 --> 00:19:52.960
you play piano, violin, you need to learn very

00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:57.660
young. Yeah, the conservatory in Bayonne was

00:19:57.660 --> 00:20:02.539
not high, the level was not high enough. We entered,

00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:06.319
but we... We went out after six months. I mean,

00:20:06.339 --> 00:20:09.920
that was not interesting. We had to be confronted

00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:14.299
to, you know, it was good to have the challenge

00:20:14.299 --> 00:20:17.440
of the other people playing, you know, as well

00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:22.170
as us or better. And we had to, you know. to

00:20:22.170 --> 00:20:24.329
grow up as a musician. No, it was very important.

00:20:24.730 --> 00:20:28.869
Was it a shock? Yes, it was a shock, yeah. Yeah,

00:20:28.869 --> 00:20:31.430
yeah, that's for sure. My Paris, that was a shock.

00:20:31.609 --> 00:20:34.009
How old were you? How old were you both? So young.

00:20:34.309 --> 00:20:38.029
We were 11 and 13. In the Paris Conservatoire?

00:20:38.369 --> 00:20:41.630
Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We were very young. She

00:20:41.630 --> 00:20:45.250
was 11 and a half, and I was 13 and a half. Because

00:20:45.250 --> 00:20:49.029
we were both born two years apart, but we were

00:20:49.029 --> 00:20:53.109
both born in March. Okay. And we enter in September,

00:20:53.349 --> 00:20:57.609
October. Yeah. So young. Yeah, very young. Did

00:20:57.609 --> 00:20:59.789
your parents come with you? Did your mother come

00:20:59.789 --> 00:21:03.210
with you? My mother was coming each Friday, leaving

00:21:03.210 --> 00:21:07.789
us each Sunday. And we had an old friend of the

00:21:07.789 --> 00:21:10.960
family and she was... Taking care of us. She

00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:13.940
was alone and she was a Spanish woman. Spanish

00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:15.779
woman. And she stayed with us. She did not have

00:21:15.779 --> 00:21:19.319
family. She was not married. So we were a little

00:21:19.319 --> 00:21:22.539
bit babies because she saw her born. You know,

00:21:22.579 --> 00:21:25.960
when we were born, she was there. she wanted

00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:28.339
to yeah when i realized today i said that we

00:21:28.339 --> 00:21:30.519
were yeah we were very lucky because all that

00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:33.720
was on extremely well nice because there is no

00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:36.220
enter now i don't know the name in english no

00:21:36.220 --> 00:21:39.400
you cannot be pension when you are at the conservatory

00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:42.299
you cannot sleep there or oh yeah so it's uh

00:21:42.299 --> 00:21:47.539
so yeah extremely small with two little upright

00:21:47.539 --> 00:21:49.440
piano and then when we started playing together

00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:51.660
we could open the door and we could start playing

00:21:51.660 --> 00:21:54.859
to piano so it was it was fun no we didn't Not

00:21:54.859 --> 00:21:57.660
inside Paris, that was too expensive. We were

00:21:57.660 --> 00:22:00.779
outside Paris. So a very long way to go to the

00:22:00.779 --> 00:22:03.279
conservatory and all that. Oh my goodness, so

00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:07.700
young. Yeah, very young. So Ariel entered in

00:22:07.700 --> 00:22:11.980
preparatory and I entered in superior. But because

00:22:11.980 --> 00:22:16.039
I could not travel with her, because the schedule

00:22:16.039 --> 00:22:20.099
would have been different. So I quit superior.

00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:24.460
And I start again to enter preparatory to stay

00:22:24.460 --> 00:22:28.240
with her. Yeah. Oh, you're obviously incredibly

00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:33.140
close. Yeah, that we are. Yes, we are. You spend

00:22:33.140 --> 00:22:36.019
so much time together. But in the same time,

00:22:36.059 --> 00:22:39.480
we're very independent. We always, I mean, Marielle

00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:43.900
was, she was 18. She had a boyfriend. She was

00:22:43.900 --> 00:22:47.329
leaving. in an apartment in Paris, but not with

00:22:47.329 --> 00:22:49.849
me. And I was also living with my boyfriend,

00:22:50.069 --> 00:22:54.609
not with her. So already at 18 and 20, we were

00:22:54.609 --> 00:22:57.329
very independent. We were living separately.

00:22:57.589 --> 00:23:01.670
We always live very close, like in Rome. We have

00:23:01.670 --> 00:23:04.549
our places. They are very close, but not together.

00:23:05.180 --> 00:23:07.680
you're both in our own kitchen i have my own

00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:12.400
kitchen so you're both in rome now yes now we

00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:17.599
are in london yes but yes we have italian we

00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:20.019
have italian because it was italian yeah she

00:23:20.019 --> 00:23:22.640
was from torre del lago she was uh from toscana

00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:27.569
so we always had a Fit in Italy. In Firenze first

00:23:27.569 --> 00:23:30.289
and then we moved in Rome, which is great. We

00:23:30.289 --> 00:23:37.230
moved to Italy in 1993. So it's like 33 years

00:23:37.230 --> 00:23:41.609
we are resident in Italy. You couldn't live back

00:23:41.609 --> 00:23:46.640
in Paris. Yeah. No, we are not Parisian. We don't

00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:50.420
like Paris. I mean, we like the Basque coast

00:23:50.420 --> 00:23:55.220
because it's where we grew up. And I love the

00:23:55.220 --> 00:23:58.839
sea. I love the ocean. I need to see that. And

00:23:58.839 --> 00:24:01.660
Rome is not far away from the sea, so it's fine.

00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:06.640
But Paris, no, it's not for us. That was never

00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:10.220
our city. We went there to enter Paris Conservatory,

00:24:10.259 --> 00:24:14.119
but then we went out and we... really never stay

00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:16.859
there and then we lived in london for a while

00:24:16.859 --> 00:24:20.519
yes yeah i remember that yeah yeah long time

00:24:20.519 --> 00:24:23.559
ago but it was nice i i love the city i love

00:24:23.559 --> 00:24:27.059
this city and i i love the gardens and the tradition

00:24:27.059 --> 00:24:30.750
for english garden Wow, it's so beautiful. It

00:24:30.750 --> 00:24:33.490
is beautiful. So beautiful. There's so many different

00:24:33.490 --> 00:24:36.750
areas of London. I love this hotel where we are

00:24:36.750 --> 00:24:39.930
now, the Covent Garden. It's so amazing. Yeah,

00:24:40.029 --> 00:24:44.890
it's nice. I show it to you. You see? Ah, we

00:24:44.890 --> 00:24:47.769
closed the library. Yeah, because we are. Yes.

00:24:48.410 --> 00:24:52.009
It's beautiful. And with the honesty bar. Where

00:24:52.009 --> 00:24:54.609
can you find the honesty bar? Gorgeous. The honesty

00:24:54.609 --> 00:24:56.890
bar. That means you've got to be honest. If you

00:24:56.890 --> 00:25:00.230
don't find the honesty bar in France, in New

00:25:00.230 --> 00:25:03.609
York or in Italy, forget it. So you can pick

00:25:03.609 --> 00:25:06.690
up whatever you want and just write it and they

00:25:06.690 --> 00:25:10.190
trust you. That's beautiful, no? We love that.

00:25:10.470 --> 00:25:14.009
It is beautiful. So you're about to kick off

00:25:14.009 --> 00:25:19.259
on an amazing tour, aren't you? Yes, we just,

00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:23.299
it was so tiring. I mean, the amount of travel

00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:26.839
we made were more than the amount of day we stay

00:25:26.839 --> 00:25:29.900
in each city. But yes, in one month we were to

00:25:29.900 --> 00:25:33.740
Los Angeles and then we went to South Korea for

00:25:33.740 --> 00:25:37.220
a few concerts and then we went to Taipei. But

00:25:37.220 --> 00:25:40.460
it was fantastic. We brought this great project,

00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:43.839
which is a trilogy. Cocteau Glass. We brought

00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:46.980
it in London last year at Barbican. Yes. And

00:25:46.980 --> 00:25:50.019
we play with this huge chandelier with amazing

00:25:50.019 --> 00:25:54.220
lighting and those three operas transcribed for

00:25:54.220 --> 00:25:59.119
us by Philippe and Michael Riesman. And they're

00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:02.900
wonderful music, really. We love it. Wow. So

00:26:02.900 --> 00:26:05.779
we brought that and that was a huge amount of

00:26:05.779 --> 00:26:08.559
logistics because to bring this chandelier, we

00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:11.960
have three people traveling with us, but there

00:26:11.960 --> 00:26:16.680
are in total 10 people working at Philharmonie

00:26:16.680 --> 00:26:21.660
de Paris to prepare those concerts. And in fact,

00:26:21.700 --> 00:26:26.720
we did it in London. We did it at Barbican, we

00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:32.579
did it in Dublin also. No, no. We did in Barbican.

00:26:32.779 --> 00:26:35.819
We brought a chandelier, everything in Barbican.

00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:38.960
And that was beautiful. We were playing a recital

00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:43.240
in Festival Hall just a few months before, but

00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:47.640
after we brought this project at Barbican. That's

00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:50.160
great. But your tour that you're about to embark

00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:55.000
on at the end of June is the 55 tour, isn't it?

00:26:55.019 --> 00:26:56.539
You're going to be playing... pieces from the

00:26:56.539 --> 00:26:59.220
album yeah i think we're going to play that for

00:26:59.220 --> 00:27:01.900
a long time because at the end it's all the music

00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:06.000
we love and and of course we cannot play the

00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:11.799
55 pieces that would be too long but we've played

00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:15.519
you know we had again to choose it's very difficult

00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:18.720
for us to choose but we did few pieces who we

00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:21.640
represent for sure there is Fanny Mendelssohn

00:27:21.640 --> 00:27:25.160
there is Hélène de Mongeroux there is Marie Jael

00:27:25.160 --> 00:27:28.480
I mean mostly of the women they are here with

00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:32.440
us and then some of the you know the pieces we

00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:36.740
played at Arvo Part or Bernstein or Price Desner

00:27:36.740 --> 00:27:40.509
so we we made a mix and also margaret bones in

00:27:40.509 --> 00:27:44.869
fact yes absolutely yeah yeah yes she's become

00:27:44.869 --> 00:27:47.390
quite well known now you know yeah it's incredible

00:27:47.390 --> 00:27:52.130
yeah and she was the first pianist accepted and

00:27:52.130 --> 00:27:54.589
played with chicago symphony because she was

00:27:54.589 --> 00:27:57.650
african -american i don't know how to say that

00:27:57.650 --> 00:28:04.170
no we say african -american but but i mean nina

00:28:04.170 --> 00:28:07.279
simon could say I'm black classical because she

00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:11.220
said it. Yes, we say black African. No, Margaret

00:28:11.220 --> 00:28:15.440
Bond, she's a symbol, you know, because she had

00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:18.920
to fight so much. She was so courageous. She,

00:28:18.980 --> 00:28:22.920
you know, she was totally humiliated when she

00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:26.099
was at Chicago University because she wanted

00:28:26.099 --> 00:28:29.599
to be a classical pianist. And she... Again,

00:28:29.619 --> 00:28:32.319
with the color of her skin, it was not allowed.

00:28:32.799 --> 00:28:35.720
But then she became very friendly with Leontine

00:28:35.720 --> 00:28:39.559
Price, who sang quite a lot of her music, and

00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:42.579
also very friendly with Martin Luther King. And

00:28:42.579 --> 00:28:47.519
she was part of this movement against segregation.

00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:50.920
She was pianist, she was arranger, she was composer,

00:28:51.220 --> 00:28:53.539
she was doing quite a lot. In fact, she was playing

00:28:53.539 --> 00:28:57.470
very well. Any mother of child. Yeah, you've

00:28:57.470 --> 00:29:00.349
got a lot of interesting composers there that

00:29:00.349 --> 00:29:02.049
you're saying. Yeah, she used to say, Margaret

00:29:02.049 --> 00:29:04.769
Bond used to say, you know, when we are women

00:29:04.769 --> 00:29:07.910
and we do all that, we would need really the

00:29:07.910 --> 00:29:11.529
day to be double of hours. We cannot do all that

00:29:11.529 --> 00:29:15.150
in 12 hours. We need 36 hours to do everything

00:29:15.150 --> 00:29:18.670
we are doing. In fact, Grazina Bashevich was

00:29:18.670 --> 00:29:21.890
saying that sometimes it was so difficult for

00:29:21.890 --> 00:29:25.609
her to work with... and everything that she would

00:29:25.609 --> 00:29:32.029
go away in a small rental studio and write music

00:29:32.029 --> 00:29:36.609
there because she was on her own. Amazing, amazing.

00:29:36.990 --> 00:29:41.130
Yes. Yeah. So, I mean, by now, after these 55

00:29:41.130 --> 00:29:44.430
years, I imagine you both, the two of you, understand

00:29:44.430 --> 00:29:48.009
each other fully in terms of playing together.

00:29:48.809 --> 00:29:54.559
Yes. Yes, I think. But we... We built that connection

00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:58.559
also, you know, we built it because it's not

00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:00.920
because we're just sister, you can be sister,

00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:04.759
but little by little, each project, each meeting,

00:30:04.819 --> 00:30:10.039
each new person, new musician we encounter help

00:30:10.039 --> 00:30:14.920
us to grow. And this is how we end up loving

00:30:14.920 --> 00:30:17.799
so much different kind of music. I mean, this

00:30:17.799 --> 00:30:22.720
is how we are. Yeah. Do you ever? Do you ever

00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:25.859
storm out? Yes, we do. Yeah, we do on stupid

00:30:25.859 --> 00:30:30.079
things, you know. Of course we do. Like any couple,

00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:34.180
you know. Yeah, yeah. Because we are living as

00:30:34.180 --> 00:30:37.000
a couple in a way. But we also, Marielle, have

00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:40.059
a couple with Simeon, her husband. I have my

00:30:40.059 --> 00:30:43.910
couple with David, you know. At the end, we need

00:30:43.910 --> 00:30:47.369
to manage the life of three couples together.

00:30:48.809 --> 00:30:51.069
It's quite a lot. Well, I hope they get along,

00:30:51.329 --> 00:30:53.450
David and Simon. I hope they get along too. It's

00:30:53.450 --> 00:30:55.829
very rare that we are four of us together. Yes,

00:30:55.829 --> 00:30:58.009
it's very rare. But it's true that in logistic,

00:30:58.089 --> 00:31:00.130
it's complicated because each year is different.

00:31:00.230 --> 00:31:03.029
Each week is different. There's never one week

00:31:03.029 --> 00:31:05.769
which is like another one because we are never

00:31:05.769 --> 00:31:08.529
in the same place at the same moment. So it's

00:31:08.529 --> 00:31:13.160
a bit tricky. But we do our best since. Well,

00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:16.799
you both look so happy. You're smiling so much.

00:31:17.480 --> 00:31:20.960
I'm sure you're the best of friends. I'm absolutely

00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:23.599
convinced. Now, before we sign off, because we're

00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:26.660
getting close to the end, I want to ask you some

00:31:26.660 --> 00:31:29.819
very lighthearted questions. Okay. If you can

00:31:29.819 --> 00:31:32.750
just answer me. I mean, there's two of you. I

00:31:32.750 --> 00:31:34.950
usually have one pianist on my podcast, but there's

00:31:34.950 --> 00:31:35.950
two of you, so I don't know how you're going

00:31:35.950 --> 00:31:38.630
to answer. But I'm going to ask you these little

00:31:38.630 --> 00:31:40.730
questions, and if you could get just off the

00:31:40.730 --> 00:31:43.490
cuff, tell me what you would like. Okay. Okay.

00:31:44.529 --> 00:31:47.589
If you could play only one composer from now

00:31:47.589 --> 00:31:58.799
on, who would it be? Philip Glass. Whoa. Because

00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:01.359
that's the one we play the most in this moment.

00:32:01.660 --> 00:32:05.519
And this is the one who wrote enough for us.

00:32:05.599 --> 00:32:09.529
He wrote so much for us. For me, it's so hard

00:32:09.529 --> 00:32:12.589
to... But if not, my answer would have been back.

00:32:12.809 --> 00:32:16.529
But it's long time we have not come back to play

00:32:16.529 --> 00:32:20.309
back concerti on forte piano. This is what we

00:32:20.309 --> 00:32:24.309
do. Usually we play Mozart on Walter and we play

00:32:24.309 --> 00:32:27.309
back on Silbermann. But this is something we

00:32:27.309 --> 00:32:31.490
want. We did huge tour in the year 2000. But

00:32:31.490 --> 00:32:35.210
now... We need to go back to it. And we have

00:32:35.210 --> 00:32:38.549
the instrument. We need to practice more. But

00:32:38.549 --> 00:32:45.720
it's almost impossible. But yes. Yes. For me,

00:32:45.779 --> 00:32:47.640
it's very difficult to say one composer because

00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:49.880
all our life we've been changing repertoire.

00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:53.339
I know. I would say immediately Mozart, Stravinsky.

00:32:53.559 --> 00:32:56.819
Just for a kind of combination between two. I

00:32:56.819 --> 00:32:58.799
don't know, but then I would change my mind in

00:32:58.799 --> 00:33:03.079
five minutes. But maybe now at 3 .30. I think

00:33:03.079 --> 00:33:06.099
Philippe is the one who gave us the most repertory.

00:33:06.509 --> 00:33:10.450
We have huge repertory of his music. So if we

00:33:10.450 --> 00:33:14.309
have to end up only, and it's so diverse, you

00:33:14.309 --> 00:33:16.849
know, between those three opera, it's such a

00:33:16.849 --> 00:33:19.430
lot of different, and it's always a pleasure

00:33:19.430 --> 00:33:23.150
to play it on stage. So, yeah, but of course,

00:33:23.289 --> 00:33:26.789
it's an impossible question. So next question.

00:33:26.970 --> 00:33:30.250
Next question. One pianist, dead or alive, you

00:33:30.250 --> 00:33:33.829
travel long and far to hear? Christian Zimmerman.

00:33:34.569 --> 00:33:38.990
That's a very nice answer. That's easy. Okay.

00:33:40.369 --> 00:33:45.789
You agree, Marianne? Yes, I agree. A rising musician,

00:33:46.049 --> 00:33:50.630
absolutely unique. He is. Whatever he does. That's

00:33:50.630 --> 00:33:54.670
for sure. Absolutely. Okay. One person, dead

00:33:54.670 --> 00:33:59.509
or alive, you would like to play for? Paul McCartney.

00:34:01.650 --> 00:34:06.380
Have you met him? No, never. And I wish we would

00:34:06.380 --> 00:34:10.239
because he's amazing. He's 84 years old and he

00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:13.820
just released the record. He never stopped writing

00:34:13.820 --> 00:34:17.420
music. After Beatles, he starts from the... from

00:34:17.420 --> 00:34:21.159
scratch because really he started from zero really

00:34:21.159 --> 00:34:24.380
and he had such an amazing courage and he always

00:34:24.380 --> 00:34:27.559
has this kind of vitality about his music and

00:34:27.559 --> 00:34:31.820
and about being part of you know so yes i would

00:34:31.820 --> 00:34:34.780
love to meet him i met already tom york i would

00:34:34.780 --> 00:34:38.400
have said you know tom york but i met him years

00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:43.639
ago we play with him he wrote for us so now if

00:34:43.639 --> 00:34:46.800
i have to say someone we never met yeah Paul

00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:49.460
McCartney. And I always say Igor Stravinsky because

00:34:49.460 --> 00:34:52.440
we could have. We could almost have played for

00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:55.260
him. I know, but he's dead. No, he can't be dead.

00:34:55.480 --> 00:34:57.960
I said that over live. He can be dead. He can

00:34:57.960 --> 00:35:00.219
be dead. But I would have wanted so much to play

00:35:00.219 --> 00:35:02.079
the Roto Spring for him. That would have been...

00:35:02.079 --> 00:35:06.639
He can be dead. So he can be dead. Leonardo da

00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:12.670
Vinci. Yeah, absolutely. That is surprising.

00:35:12.889 --> 00:35:16.769
You don't have to go so far away. If we have

00:35:16.769 --> 00:35:20.030
a way to travel into time, I'm sure it's with

00:35:20.030 --> 00:35:22.849
our mother now. Okay, next question because we're

00:35:22.849 --> 00:35:26.150
running out of time. Do you have any, that might

00:35:26.150 --> 00:35:28.090
seem a silly question, do you have any technical

00:35:28.090 --> 00:35:32.449
struggles on the piano? Always. We have only

00:35:32.449 --> 00:35:36.570
technical struggles. That's why we work a lot.

00:35:36.989 --> 00:35:39.789
But because then when we forget about all that,

00:35:39.869 --> 00:35:42.969
then we feel a kind of little freedom on stage.

00:35:43.230 --> 00:35:45.130
But for that, you need to be really extremely

00:35:45.130 --> 00:35:47.909
well prepared and to practice. Also being two,

00:35:48.070 --> 00:35:50.769
because when we start something new, before it

00:35:50.769 --> 00:35:54.329
starts to be organic, because when we start playing

00:35:54.329 --> 00:35:57.809
without thinking of playing together or whatever,

00:35:57.969 --> 00:36:02.849
so it's a lot of... were pianists and piano is

00:36:02.849 --> 00:36:07.510
like a extreme possessive lover if you stay away

00:36:07.510 --> 00:36:10.610
from the piano when you go back he will make

00:36:10.610 --> 00:36:13.590
you pay that you know you did not practice enough

00:36:13.590 --> 00:36:19.369
so yes we we do need to to stay connected yes

00:36:19.369 --> 00:36:24.030
but we love it we also love it yeah um what would

00:36:24.030 --> 00:36:27.090
be your advice to an amateur pianist about how

00:36:27.090 --> 00:36:32.400
to improve I would say to use his own imagination.

00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:36.679
I think imagination is a quality which we are

00:36:36.679 --> 00:36:39.940
losing more and more because very young pianists

00:36:39.940 --> 00:36:43.699
or young musicians, they're afraid not to be

00:36:43.699 --> 00:36:49.480
liked or loved enough. And I think that... You

00:36:49.480 --> 00:36:53.239
need first to use what you have in your head,

00:36:53.320 --> 00:36:57.880
in your mind. It's just to be free and to be...

00:36:57.880 --> 00:37:02.639
We try all our life to be free and to be courageous.

00:37:04.360 --> 00:37:11.760
Okay. I agree. Yes, you agree. Final question.

00:37:12.179 --> 00:37:15.460
One composer you're not quite ready to tackle.

00:37:18.360 --> 00:37:21.300
Good question. I don't know, because it can be

00:37:21.300 --> 00:37:24.960
a few pieces from certain composers that we don't

00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:28.820
play, but I still love this composer, for example.

00:37:28.920 --> 00:37:31.699
So I don't know. It's not really one which we

00:37:31.699 --> 00:37:34.519
reject. You really don't like playing Rachmaninoff?

00:37:34.960 --> 00:37:39.280
I like the composer, but the switch for two pianos,

00:37:39.300 --> 00:37:43.800
it's not what I prefer. As a duet, no, we don't

00:37:43.800 --> 00:37:47.820
like it because Rachmaninoff really requires

00:37:47.820 --> 00:37:52.219
quite a lot. of rubato and rubato on two pianos

00:37:52.219 --> 00:37:56.059
is very difficult to do very very difficult so

00:37:56.059 --> 00:38:00.460
all our life we have tried to you know also it

00:38:00.460 --> 00:38:05.340
comes from the way we study music you know great

00:38:05.340 --> 00:38:09.420
musicians like Tom York they never wanted to

00:38:09.420 --> 00:38:12.619
learn music because the way we learn music is

00:38:12.619 --> 00:38:17.019
very metrical it's each value is divided in two

00:38:17.019 --> 00:38:20.900
which is divided in four which and it goes like

00:38:20.900 --> 00:38:24.320
that you know and but we cannot play like that

00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:28.380
because there is not two not equal. We need to

00:38:28.380 --> 00:38:31.219
understand that there is a difference of equality

00:38:31.219 --> 00:38:35.159
in each not the weight on a chord, which is not

00:38:35.159 --> 00:38:37.880
the same weight on the next chord and things

00:38:37.880 --> 00:38:43.239
like that. And in Rachmaninoff, if you... Yes,

00:38:43.260 --> 00:38:46.489
like Marielle, I mean, I could... I'm not a big

00:38:46.489 --> 00:38:50.230
fan of his music in any case. I prefer Bach,

00:38:50.329 --> 00:38:54.389
of course, and Mozart, Vivaldi, a lot of Bach

00:38:54.389 --> 00:38:58.289
composers. But in any case, this kind of rubato

00:38:58.289 --> 00:39:02.150
is very difficult. So you end up playing very

00:39:02.150 --> 00:39:08.539
rhythmical and very metric. too difficult. I

00:39:08.539 --> 00:39:11.360
mean, the music does not breathe. We don't really

00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:13.679
connect with those pieces, let's say, for two

00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:17.780
pianos. I admire the composer because he writes

00:39:17.780 --> 00:39:19.840
so well for piano. He was a fabulous pianist

00:39:19.840 --> 00:39:23.260
himself. So just a few pieces like that, we are

00:39:23.260 --> 00:39:25.619
not playing anymore. I prefer Chopin in this

00:39:25.619 --> 00:39:28.900
kind of... I'm not such a big fan of Rachmaninoff.

00:39:29.159 --> 00:39:33.940
We play Debussy quite a lot. Debussy, Ravel,

00:39:34.119 --> 00:39:37.940
Stravinsky. Those ones we adore. and all kind

00:39:37.940 --> 00:39:40.659
of modern repertoire works extremely well like

00:39:40.659 --> 00:39:43.800
Bartok also first recited we did in Paris in

00:39:43.800 --> 00:39:46.880
70 it was Les Visions de la Mène d 'Olivier Messiaen

00:39:46.880 --> 00:39:50.059
and La Sonate de Bartok yeah so for two piano

00:39:50.059 --> 00:39:52.119
and percussion so it was very strong but let's

00:39:52.119 --> 00:39:54.679
say we would not tickle now to play Boulez we

00:39:54.679 --> 00:39:56.920
did but we would not anymore that's right the

00:39:56.920 --> 00:39:59.340
music we have been living with since so many

00:39:59.340 --> 00:40:02.780
years but and sometimes we played and just and

00:40:02.780 --> 00:40:05.039
then we don't go we don't come back to it we

00:40:05.039 --> 00:40:08.610
cannot come back to all the music we have played.

00:40:08.610 --> 00:40:12.050
Because now we are too old. And we just want

00:40:12.050 --> 00:40:16.710
to enjoy. So we enjoy so much playing Fanny Mendelssohn,

00:40:16.769 --> 00:40:19.329
Hélène Demoraux. I mean, we just want to enjoy

00:40:19.329 --> 00:40:25.170
our life and our time left on stage. For sure.

00:40:25.309 --> 00:40:28.760
The choice of the music is important. Each day,

00:40:28.900 --> 00:40:32.880
each month, each year, it's a gift, you know.

00:40:33.159 --> 00:40:35.679
So that's for sure. Yeah, one thing I haven't

00:40:35.679 --> 00:40:39.380
asked you, just before we go, do you play any

00:40:39.380 --> 00:40:42.559
solo stuff? Do you like to play? No, in this

00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:45.800
project, we have played some solo. Oh, yes, you

00:40:45.800 --> 00:40:50.179
have. And we probably play some of them on stage.

00:40:50.440 --> 00:40:54.659
But I don't go to play a Mozart concerto solo,

00:40:54.820 --> 00:40:59.159
no. No, but I would travel miles and miles to

00:40:59.159 --> 00:41:03.539
hear Christian Zimmermann play whatever he wants

00:41:03.539 --> 00:41:05.659
to play. Yeah, and you're obviously so busy.

00:41:05.659 --> 00:41:07.760
And that would give me more pleasure than to

00:41:07.760 --> 00:41:11.809
play it myself. Yes, okay. Yeah. Oh, well, I

00:41:11.809 --> 00:41:15.590
could chat to you for so much longer. Thank you

00:41:15.590 --> 00:41:18.849
so much, Erika. Oh, you're very welcome. It was

00:41:18.849 --> 00:41:22.070
really lovely speaking to you. And I really wish

00:41:22.070 --> 00:41:25.530
you all the best for this grand year -long tour

00:41:25.530 --> 00:41:29.449
of yours. Thank you. Yes, and let's stay in touch.

00:41:29.670 --> 00:41:32.610
It was too long we haven't been in touch. You

00:41:32.610 --> 00:41:36.369
were on the cover of Issue 7, and that was in

00:41:36.369 --> 00:41:41.460
2002. Amazing. We have to have you on the cover

00:41:41.460 --> 00:41:44.960
again, I think. Yes, with pleasure. Before it's

00:41:44.960 --> 00:41:48.739
too late. Before it's too late. Oh, well, thank

00:41:48.739 --> 00:41:51.019
you so much for joining me today. Thank you very

00:41:51.019 --> 00:42:38.400
much. Okay, thank you. Bye -bye. Bye. That was

00:42:38.400 --> 00:42:41.500
Michael Reisman's arrangement of Philip Glass's

00:42:41.500 --> 00:42:44.460
Les Soeurs and it was performed by Katia and

00:42:44.460 --> 00:42:48.159
Marielle Labeck. Pianist podcasts are free and

00:42:48.159 --> 00:42:50.280
a really good way to support what we do is by

00:42:50.280 --> 00:42:53.099
subscribing to Pianist. Visit our website at

00:42:53.099 --> 00:42:56.159
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00:42:56.159 --> 00:42:59.679
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00:42:59.679 --> 00:43:01.880
to sign up to our newsletter which is full of

00:43:01.880 --> 00:43:05.119
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00:43:08.340 --> 00:43:08.639
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