The bonus CD-ROM that accompanies this great big box contains an essay by Juilian Haylock entitled "The Lonely Romantic," which puts all this rapturously beautiful music into context. One of the last great representatives of romanticism in Russian classical music, Rachmaninoff was also one of the leading pianists and conductors of his day; few composers have come close to his striking gift for melody and for exploring the expressive possibilities of the piano. Leonard Slatkin, Maria Popescu, Nils Franke, Nikolai Lugansky, Julian Thurber, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Borodin Trio are among the prized performers here as you encounter the most complete collection of Rachmaninoff ever assembled on disc: the piano concertos and preludes, his songs and three operas, choral music, music for cello and piano, sonatas, transcriptions, symphonic dances, symphonic poems, vespers, duets his complete works!