This beautifully planned and executed disc fills one with a special sense of warmth and gratitude. For not only were Medtner and Rachmaninov friends (and their friendship survived Rachmaninov's immense popularity and Medtner's obscurity) but Alexeev and Demidenko, no less Russians to their fingertips—are also friends and co-students of Dmitri Bashkirov. How magnificently they set out to redress the balance and proclaim Medtner's wholly individual genius (''The Moscow nights, the Russian springs, the basilicas and bards of his young manhood, such was his heritage, a chalice of dreams and memories to hold for always''), separating each strand of his intricate and vivacious arguments. Naturally, all Medtner-lovers—and they are now gratifyingly many—will want to hear the composer's own legendary partnership with Moiseiwitsch recently reissued by EMI, but Alexeev and Demidenko run it close.
Moving to slightly more familiar ground, how Rachmaninov relishes the two-piano medium in his Russian Rhapsody, exploiting added resource and glitter for all they are worth. And it would be a poor Russian emigre who did not find his eyes pricking at this timeless evocation of custom and festivity. The Symphonic Dances, too, are no less finely played. Try the poco a poco accelerando at 6'37'' in No. 2 (tempo di valse) and note, also, how Alexeev and Demidenko are as remarkable when lost in bittersweet reflection as they are in dazzling virtuosity. Few could respond more intensely to that endless protracted sigh at 8'24'' in the finale. The Second Suite is also a major success even if the ''Romance'' is a trifle cool and uninflected. And while the ''Valse'' is admirably fleet and assured it hardly erases memories of Argerich and Freire on Philips (a performance that rides high on anyone's list of pianistic wizardry, 10/83—nla). By comparison Alexeev and Demidenko are too plain-sailing. But, more generally, let nothing deter you from this disc which is, overall, a marvel of precision and commitment, very finely recorded.'