Katia & Marielle Labeque - 55

Fifty-five years after the release of their first recording, Katia and Marielle Labèque celebrate an extraordinary artistic career with "55", a groundbreaking 3-CD boxset that brings together new recordings and carefully selected archive treasures from more than half a century. The debut album of the Labèque sisters, released in 1970 under the artistic direction of Olivier Messiaen, marked the beginning of one of the most unique careers in contemporary music. "Visions de l'Amen was our very first recording. We were 17 and 19 years old. Olivier Messiaen himself asked us to record it," they recall. With 25 new tracks (recorded in 2025, including recordings being released worldwide for the first time) and 30 historical tracks (recorded between 1970 and 2024), the album offers an intimate portrait of two artists who have consistently crossed the boundaries between classical music, contemporary music, jazz, minimalism and popular traditions. "55" places special emphasis on female composers: 12 of the 55 tracks are by eight different women. Katia and Marielle say about these female composers: "Their apparent silence was merely a veil that history imposed upon them. Their stories - extraordinary lives and courageous fates - resonate today with impressive power." Beyond the musical presentation, "55" is also a visual and editorial work: the box contains photographs by Brigitte Lacombe that document more than four decades of shared artistic creation and friendship, as well as a detailed accompanying booklet with an essay by musicologist and journalist Renaud Machard, historical background and quotations from the composers.