Presented in an oversized slip-case complete with family snaps of pianists Marielle and Katia Labèque as children, this disc states its aim plainly: to recapture, in “sonic images”, their memories of childhood as they grew up together as siblings and musicians. There are no liner notes and no deep scheme to the content or its order beyond musical pleasure and sense. It serves as an anthology of popular duet music ranging from Brahms’s Hungarian Dances and two of Dvorák’s Slavonic Dances to the Berceuse from Fauré’s Dolly Suite and pieces by Gershwin, Grainger and Lutoslawski. Milhaud’s brief Brazileira from Scaramouche sums up the Labèques’ energy and Gallic wit. The disc is dedicated to their late parents, who must have wondered what they did right.
