A most unusual recording session took place in Miami daring the late summer of 1995. The Russian born and now Dallas-based duo-pianists Valentina Lisitsa and Alexei Kuznetsoff were asked by a Florida company, Audiofon Records, to make their first commercial disc. What happened over a period of three days was beyond anyone's expectations.

As producer Julian Kreeger writes in the album notes, "As soon as they began to play I realized that something very special was happening. There was an electrifying energy and spontaneity throughout their playing and none of the reticence that is all too often found in recordings." What resulted was not a single CD, but four — two of two-piano music and two solo CDs featuring Ms. Lisitsa, the technical powerhouse of the pair.

What made the sessions even more remarkable, however, was that Ms. Lisitsa's CDs have been issued with no edits. In fact, the covers of Virtuosa Valentina (72055) and Valentina (72056) boast "UNEDITED PERFORMANCES," a first, as far as I can remember, when It comes to studio recording*.

Still, the verve and accuracy of the couple will be less of a surprise to those who have experienced the wonder of them. recently in appearances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra or at Fort Worth's Cliburn Concert. In fact, these arc qualities their fans now almost take for granted. What one cannot be blase about, however, is a recording debut that embraces four discs — all issued simultaneously. But then, unusual pianism deserves unusual handling.

The repertory they chose for the pair of two-piano CDs (72053 and 72054) Is as uncommon as their playing. In fact. the only item here that could be termed "standard" is the Suite No. l for Two Pianos by Rachmaninoff. Even though Ms. Lisitsa and Mr. Kuznetsoff's names are new to many, the musically curious will be drawn to their Audiofon discs by such compelling discoveries as an early two-piano Suite (Op. 6} by Shostakovich in its first recording and the first versions as well of William Bolcom's Recuerdos and Alfred Schnittke's Gogol Suite. I have developed a particular affection for Mr. Bolcom's suite of pieces (in part, a homage to the Brasillian samb? and choro master Ernesto Nazareth). Mr. Bolcom wrote this work for the 1991 duo-piano competition held in Miami in memory of pianist Murray Dranoft; it was this International event that Ms. Lisitsa and Mr. Kuznetsotf won and which launched their American career. The Bolcom suite is a gathering of lilting dance rhythms and sly melodic turns that are as beguiling as they are irresistible.

Paired with this vivid trio of contemporary works are glittering performances of Chopin's Rondo. Op. 73, the demonic Don Juan Fantasy of Liszt, Debussy's littIe-played and miraculous Enblanc et noir and finally Leopold Godowsky's Infectious two-piano version of Weber's Invitation to the Dance. As this is less than half of the solo repertory Ms. Lisitsa and Mr. Kuznetsoff command, Audiofon has its work cut out for it.

The two solo discs by Ms. Lisitsa are launched In an attention-grabbing manner by a roaring performance of Gregory Ginsburg's transcription of Figaro's patter aria "Largo al factotum" from Rossini's The Barber of Seville. Jascha Heifetz used to play a mind-bending paraphrase of this aria as well, but even his virtuosity was not quite a match for Ms. Lisitsa's in the same music. That fact alone gives you better idea of her prowess at the keyboard than any words of mine.

There is also a sparkling encounter with Godowsky's transcription of themes from the operetta Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss and a handful of demanding Liszt pieces — the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, four Schubert song transcriptions (ending with the raging "Erlkonig"). the Paganini etude "La campanella" and the quasi-symphonic Spanish Rhapsody. Disc two is a bit more conventional and less high-powered — It ranges from Mozart to Prokofiev — though the playing is equally incisive and alluring. (There is also a second, alternate version of "Erikonig," reaffirming that lighting does strike twice in the same spot).

Audiofon, which specializes almost exclusively in keyboard recordings, again attains an Immediacy in these recordings that creates an illusion of the concert hall. This sort of engineering naturalness plus the naturalness of the two pianists combine to produce a real rather than artificial listening experience.