Fifty-five years after the release of their first recording, Katia and Marielle Labèque celebrate an extraordinary artistic journey with “55”, a landmark 3-CD boxed set bringing together new recordings and curated archive treasures spanning more than half a century. First released in 1970 under the artistic guidance of Olivier Messiaen, the Labèque sisters’ debut album marked the beginning of one of the most singular careers in contemporary music. “Visions de l’Amen was our very first recording. We were 17 and 19. Olivier Messiaen himself asked us to record it”, as they recall.

 

Featuring 25 new tracks (recorded in 2025, including world premiere recordings) and 30 historic tracks (recorded from 1970-2024), the album offers an intimate portrait of two artists who have consistently crossed boundaries between classical, contemporary, jazz, minimalism and popular traditions. “55” has a particular focus on women composers with 12 of the 55 tracks written by eight different women. On these composers Katia and Marielle say: “Their apparent silence was only a veil imposed by history. Their stories - extraordinary journeys and courageous destinies - resonate today with striking force.”

 

Beyond its musical scope, 55 is also a visual and editorial object: the box includes photographs by Brigitte Lacombe, tracing more than four decades of shared artistic life and friendship, alongside a richly documented booklet with an essay by musicologist and journalist Renaud Machard, historical context and composer quotes.

 

 

CD 1 WILD IS THE WIND

1. Wild is the Wind (Dimitri Tiomkin) 

2. Spiritual Suite: III. Troubled Water (Margaret Bonds)

3. Ballad of the Spirits (Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou) 

4. Valse noire for M.  (David Chalmin) 

5. Ten Concert Etudes: IV. (Grażyna Bacewicz) 

6. Trois pièces Caractéristiques: I. Allegretto (Grażyna Bacewicz) 

7. Nocturne Op. 50 No. 2 (Dora Pejačević) 

8. Helen's Theme (from “Candyman”) (Philip Glass) 

9. Star-Cross'd Lovers: Act V: Romeo's Poison (David Chalmin) 

10. The Time Curve Preludes: No. 12 (William Duckworth) 

11. We Will Meet Again (Bill Evans)

12. West Side Story: Somewhere (Leonard Bernstein)

13. Canción De Amor (Paco de Lucia) 

14. La vida breve / Act 2: Spanish Dance No. 1 (Manuel de Falla)

15. Carolina Shout (James P. Johnson)

16. Piano Concerto in F Major: III. Allegro agitato (George Gershwin)

 

CD2 OF A BRIGHT GARDEN

1. 4 Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 8: I. Allegro moderato (Fanny Mendelssohn) 

2. 3 Mélodies, Op. 4: II. Allegretto (Fanny Mendelssohn) 

3. Lieder ohne Worte V, Op. 62: I. Andante espressivo (Felix Mendelssohn)

4. Lieder ohne Worte VI, Op. 67: I. Andante (Felix Mendelssohn) 

5. Suite bergamasque: III. Clair de lune (Claude Debussy)

6. 3 Morceaux: I. D’un vieux jardin (Lili Boulanger) 

7. 3 Morceaux: II. D’un jardin clair (Lili Boulanger)

8. Hommage à Marie Jaëll (Muriël Bostdorp) 

9. 12 Valses and Finale, Op. 8: VIII. Allegretto cantabile (Marie Jaëll) 

10. Pavana-Capricho, Op. 12 (Isaac Albéniz) 

11. Etude No. 110 (Hélène de Montgeroult) 

12. Dolly Suite, Op. 56: 3. Le jardin de Dolly (Gabriel Fauré) 

13. Ma mère l’Oye: 5. Le jardin féérique (Maurice Ravel)

14. Pavane pour une infante défunte, M.19 (Maurice Ravel)

15. Nocturnes: 2. Fêtes (Claude Debussy) 

16. 8 Slavonic Dances, Op. 46: No. 5 in A Major (Antonín Dvořák) 

17. Jeux d'enfants, Op. 22: 3. La poupée (Georges Bizet)

18. Jeux d'enfants, Op. 22: 12. Le bal (Georges Bizet)

19. Dolly Suite, Op. 56: 1. Berceuse (Gabriel Fauré) 

20. 21 Hungarian Dances: No. 12 in D Minor (Johannes Brahms)

 

CD3 POINTS OF LIGHT

1. Memory (Luciano Berio) 

2. Für Alina (Arvo Pärt)

3. Pari intervallo (Arvo Pärt) 

4. Goiza Larrunen (Bryce Dessner) 

5. Orphée: Act 1: III. La chambre d'Orphée (Philip Glass) 

6. La Belle et la Bête: II. Les sœurs (Philip Glass) 

7. Les Enfants terribles: III. The Somnambulist (Philip Glass) 

8. El Chan: II. Points of Light (Bryce Dessner)

9. El Chan: V. Coyote (Bryce Dessner)

10. Le Sacre du Printemps, Pt. 1: VIII. Danse de la terre (Igor Stravinsky) 

11. Hymn to a Great City (Arvo Pärt)

12. Images: Prelude 7 (Howard Skempton) 

13. Images: Postlude (Howard Skempton) 

14. Experiences No.1 (John Cage) 

15. Trois morceaux en forme de poire: En plus (Erik Satie) 

16. Avant-dernières pensées: 1. Idylle, à Debussy Erik Satie) 

17. Les cinq doigts: 4. Larghetto (Igor Stravinsky) 

18. Three Movements from Petrushka: 1. Russian Dance (Igor Stravinsky) 

19. Visions de l’Amen: 7. Amen de la consommation (Olivier Messiaen)