Rachmaninov: Russian Rhapsody for two pianos, Op. post.

“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). ..... 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.” James Harrington, American Record Guide

EMI Classics is pleased to release the latest instalment of highlights from the Martha Argerich Project at the Lugano Festival. This is the seventh annual 3-CD set celebrating the musical fruits of a project in which young artists join seasoned performers, including Ms. Argerich, to explore wide-ranging chamber music and orchestral repertoire, both well known and rarely heard. The CDs, recorded in the summer of 2009, are being released in anticipation of the Festival’s 2010 season in June.

As a chamber music event, this series has become a laboratory that gives guest artists a chance to prove themselves not only in well-known masterpieces but also in rarely performed repertoire. The piano stands at the centre of the programming, not only with works originally written for it but also with transcriptions, which played an important historic role in the diffusion of music in remote areas and within family circles.

The eighth season of the Martha Argerich Project takes place in June 2010. Many of the artists on these CDs will take part again this year.