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A world premiere, a rarely performed concerto and a slice of late Rachmaninov formed a well-conceived programme that also featured the internationally renowned Labèque sisters.

Coupling a rare but underwhelming concerto by Max Bruch with Strauss's polychrome orchestral showpiece, the program with Semyon Bychkov and the sisters Labèque accentuated superlative musicianship.

Launching a new “Reflektor” series of short festivals, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie invited Bryce Dessner to curate two days of concerts.

Two interlocking grand pianos, the front with its lid removed, centred the stage of pale pink lights at St George’s. The Labèque sisters, Katia and Marielle perform Ravel, Schubert, Bernstein and Glass. 

Let’s not beat about the bush: the BBC Symphony Orchestra wouldn’t rank among my top ten orchestras in the world. Semyon Bychkov, however, has a transformative power over its players and in a monumentally impressive account of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony, Bychkov made the BBCSO truly sound one of the world’s greats.

Piano sisters Katia and Marielle, with the help of Kalakan, a trio of basque musicians, give us varied melodies, rhythms, colours of the musical horizon. It's a concert which achieves remarkable consistency in spite of its eclectic programme.

As I sat in the intriguing darkness of Koerner Hall, Marielle Labèque carefully placed the opening notes of Le fils des étoiles by Erik Satie. They hung in the air like little crystals. This was a simple beginning, yet deceptively so, that would build towards something larger. In turn, these notes would unfold in a continuous stream of build-ups and decays.

El esplendido dúo pianístico Labèque inundó de notas y emociones la Iglesia del Carmen de Peralada.

Uno de los mayores logros de las pianistas francesas radica en reformular la función habitual de su instrumento en el escenario y que acontece tanto en el apartado interpretativo, como en la lectura de partituras como las de Philip Glass.