As a graduate of the rigorous training system of the Moscow Central Music School and Conservatory (where he studied with Yuri Yankelevich and encountered such rôle models as Oistrakh, Kogan and Gilels), Boris Belkin displays in his playing an effective expression of conventional style in mainstream repertoire. He made his public début with Kirill Kondrashin at the age of seven and performed all over the USSR with leading orchestras whilst still a student.

His solo discography is almost exclusively of the concerto genre, in which there are interesting comparisons to be made with his contemporary and fellow Russian, Viktor Tretyakov, especially in the Brahms and Shostakovich concertos selected here. Belkin’s playing is softer-edged—more romantic pe...