UMS Concert Program, February 17, 1985: International Presentations Of Music & Dance --

Season: x0106th
Concert: Fifty-third
Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Katia & Marielle Labeque
Duo-Pianists
Sunday Afternoon, February 17, 1985, at 4:00 Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56b.......................... Brahms
Concerto for Two Pianos..................................... Stravinsky
Con moto
Notturno (adagictto)
Quattro variazioni
Preludio e Fuga
INTERMISSION
Ma Mere l'Oye (Mother Goose)..................................... Ravel
Pavanc dc la belle au bois dormant Petit Poucet
Laidcroncttc impcratrice des pagodes Les Entrcticns de la bella et la bete Lcjardin fcerique
An American in Paris........................................... Gershwin
Philips and Angel Records. Fifty-third Concert of the 106th Season Ninth Annual Debut & Encore Scries
About the Artists
Renowned in their native France, duo-pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque are among the most talkcd-about young concert artists on the international music scene. Together, the Labcques have toured throughout Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and Australia. During the 1982-83 season they made their first New York recital appearance at Avcry Fisher Hall and their New York orchestral debut at Carnegie Hall with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra under Pinchas Zukerman. They have also performed in New York's prestigious Mostly Mozart Festival. Other orchestra engagements have included the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta and Michael Tilson-Thomas, the Montreal Symphony with Charles Dutoit, the Boston Symphony with Sciji Ozawa, the Israel Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta, London's Royal Philharmonic, and the Orchcs-tre de Paris. That same season the Labequcs first performed their own arrangement of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" for two pianos and orchestra with the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin, and gave recitals in major European cities, including Amsterdam, Geneva, Paris, and London.
The 1983-84 season began with their first tour ofjapan, followed by New Zealand and Australia, where they participated in the Perth and Adelaide Festivals. In Europe they toured with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by James Conlon, and gave recitals throughout France, Switzerland, and England. Last September they gave their first performances of Gershwin's own two-piano arrangement of "An American in Paris" at the Berlin Festival, in Washington, D.C., and Carnegie Hall. These concerts followed a second tour ofjapan, as well as a three-hour musical extravaganza televised live by French TV.
The Labequcs made their first recording for Philips in 1981 -Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Concerto in F" -which became a worldwide best-selling classical recording. It was quickly followed by an album of Gershwin songs with Barbara Hendricks, and a recording of Brahms's Hungarian Dances. Last year their Liszt pieces became available, and most recently, just before Christmas, EMI released their recording of "Carnival of the Animals" with the Israel Philharmonic and Mehta, narrated by Itzhak Pcrlman. On television the Labequcs make frequent guest appearances in Britain, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and France, and in the United States on the "Today " and "Johnny Carson ' Shows.
While Mariellc's passion is playing chamber music, Katia blends her duet playing with a separate career as a jazz musician in the band of guitarist John McLaughlin, where she plays piano and synthesizer. In 1981 and 1982, the sisters toured with the band, playing Stravinsky, Bartok, and Gershwin as a prelude to the McLaughlin band's set. They have also made summer appearances in the BBC Proms, the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, the Edinburgh Festival, and various summer festivals in France.
Now in their early thirties, Katia and Marielle Labeque were born in Hendayc, a small town on the southwestern coast of France. After receiving their first lessons from their mother, a pianist who had studied with Marguerite Long, they continued their studies at the Paris Conservatory, where they both received the First Prize in the same year. On leaving the Conservatory, their work in the field of contemporary music was increased following their meetings with Olivier Mcssiaen, Pierre Boulez, and Luciano Bcrio. The sisters now possess a wide-ranging repertoire extending from the classical through Gershwin, Scott Joplin, and Ligeti.
Their Ann Arbor debut this afternoon takes place during a two-month tour of the United States that includes appearances with the Toronto Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, plus recitals in sixteen cities. In May they will give a week of recitals in Paris before embarking on a tour with the London-based Orchestra of St. John's, Smith Square; and at the end of the month, they will perform with orchestras in London and Hamburg.
Netherlands Wind Ensemble
This week, Wednesday Evening, February 20
in Rackham Auditorium at 8:00
A special added concert by these popular European musicians, their third visit to Ann Arbor. They will perform:
Mozart: Overture and highlights, The Abduction from the Seraglio
Possio: Screnata (1983)
Rossini: Overture, Corradino
Rosctti: Partita in E-flat major
Mozart: Divertimento No. 4, K. 186
Krommer: Nonet, Op. 57
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
GAIL W. RECTOR, President JOHN W. REED, Vice President
DOUGLAS D. CRARY, Secretary ALLEN P. BRITTON, Treasurer HOWARD L. HOLMES JOHN D. PAUL LOIS U. STEGEMAN
?RICHARD L.KENNEDY SARAH GODDARD POWER E. THURSTON THIEME
I'AULW. McCRACKEN HAROLD T. SHAPIRO JERRY A. WEISBACH
?ALANG. MERTEN
First term began January 1, 1985.
Burton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1270 Phones: (313) 665-3717, 764-2538