In his early days the composer-pianist Igor Raykhelson – born in Leningrad in 1961, once a New York resident and now based in Moscow – studied both classical and jazz piano. Those influences have combined to create a uniquely personal, Rachmaninov-plays-the-blues Neo-Romantic style: not only is Raykhelson unafraid to write a good tune – it’s clear right away whose tune it is. And in his chamber and instrumental works, the intimate, ‘parlando’ manner that Raykhelson absorbed from jazz becomes particularly effective. This release features some of the leading Russian musicians of the current day: Ekaterina Astashova (the composer's wife) is joined by the cellist Alexander Kniazev, the pianist Konstantin Lifschitz and the Borodin Quartet.