Sonate Pour Deux Pianos & Percussion / Sept Pièces Pour Deux Pianos Extraites De Mikrokosmos

This 1971 release features the sisters Katia and Marielle Labèque performing Béla Bartók's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion alongside percussionists Sylvio Gualda and Jean-Pierre Drouet. Bartók originally composed the sonata in 1937 for the tenth anniversary of the International Society for Contemporary Music, aiming to explore the percussive qualities of the piano as a harmonic and rhythmic force. The recording also includes excerpts from his monumental educational cycle, Mikrokosmos, which was written between 1926 and 1939 to guide students through the complexities of modern musical structures.

The recording was produced under the Master Sonic label, capturing the precise, angular energy of the Labèque sisters' interpretation during the early stages of their international career. By this period, the Labèques were gaining recognition for their technical virtuosity and their ability to bring intense, rhythmic clarity to mid-twentieth-century avant-garde repertoire. This specific pressing serves as a notable document of their technical approach to Bartók’s rigorous arrangements before they achieved widespread fame for their later, more eclectic collaborations.