This South African company has releases by several artists, but South African pianist Nina Schumann and Portuguese pianist Luís Magalhães (a husband-and-wife two-piano team) have recorded Rachmaninov’s complete music for two pianos (two Suites, Russian Rhapsody, Prelude in C# minor [arr. by the composer], Polka Italienne [arr. by Ada Brant], Symphonic Dances [arr. by the composer], Six Morceaux) (103 903-9, two discs). They play very well, technically, with amazingly clean textures—you hear every note—and with a delightful rhythmic kick. If there is anything their playing lacks, it is emotion. Rachmaninov’s music is full of feeling, though you wouldn’t know it from these performances. Yet, a cold Rachmaninov is of value too, for he was a much better composer technically that he is given credit for, and these performances let you hear what he put into his pieces.

With an outstanding debut release, this husband-wife team bursts onto the scene with Rachmaninoff performances that rival ones by the greatest artists of our time. They have the kind of precision that is rarely heard these days and an attention to detail that allowed me to hear new things in works I have known for 40 years (and a few I have learned and publicly performed). Even in the few places where I might quibble with their artistic choices, their interpretations work well musically and are certainly presented effectively.

The two-piano works are all here; Suites 1 and 2, Symphonic Dances, Russian Rhapsody, and the Prelude in C-sharp minor arrangement by the composer. To these are added a two-piano arrangement of the Polka Italienne by Ada Brant and the Six Morceaux for Piano Duet, Op. 11. Technically, you might argue that all of the concertos exist as two-piano works, but those are not here, nor have they ever been recorded since they are really for rehearsal and learning.

The competition in the two-piano works is formidable, led by Ashkenazy-Previn and Argerich-Freire, and I must say that for a basic building block of a Rachmaninoff CD collection, this set by Schumann-Magalhaes might have just edged into first place. Their blistering tempos in the Waltz and Tarantella of Suite 2 does indeed rival Argerich and Freire, who might retain a performance edge, but the superior sonics of the TwoPianists disc and the glorious sound of their Bosendorfer pianos makes this the logical choice.

And the Symphonic Dances by Ashkenazy and Previn is still at the top, but only by a hair. Again the sound of the new disc versus one 25–30 years older does show. The dead-on ensemble of the young team is so good, they even take a moment here and there to show off. The slight retards in the middle of the Suite 2 Waltz are overdone a bit and stretched to their limit as two people at two pianos sound truly as one. It makes the accelerando to the original Presto tempo even more exciting, with again not a single note out of place as they get faster and faster in perfect ensemble. I will go out of my way to catch a performance of theirs. They are off to a great start, so let’s hope for many more records like this.

TwoPianists Records is the brainchild of the wife-and-husband team of Nina Schumann and Luis Magalhães, who are not only highly skilled pianists but also very intelligent pickers of repertoire. They say they simply want to offer CDs of music that has inspired them, and that may well be so, but in the process, they are unearthing some wonderful and sadly neglected two-piano works. Their recording of Rachmaninoff’s complete works for two pianos is a perfect example. It includes the very rarely heard two-piano version of the composer’s final completed piece, the Symphonic Dances, whose sometimes lumbering, sometimes eerie rhythms come through very effectively in this recording. The two-CD set also includes both suites for two pianos (op. 5 and op. 17), the Six Morceaux, Op. 11, and arrangements of several short works—most notably the famous Prelude in C-sharp minor, in an arrangement by Rachmaninoff himself (also here are an Ada Brant arrangement of Polka Italienne and Maurice Hinson’s version of the posthumous Russian Rhapsody). This is all interesting music that shows some sides of Rachmaninoff’s pianism that are not apparent from his concertos, and everything is quite well played and recorded.