Renowned classical composer and pianist Anton Batagov performs his iconic piano cycle/album Selected Letters of Sergei Rachmaninoff. It was written, premiered, and released in 2013. It caused a sensation. Numerous musicological articles and even dissertations have been written about it. It has deeply influenced many artists. Now it is considered to be a contemporary Russian classic.

"In October 2012 I visited Rachmaninoff's grave. He is buried at Kensico Cemetery in the hamlet of Valhalla, half an hour's ride from New York City. A great musician who heard the universe as a powerful, boundless space resounding with the sounds of bells at once both tragic and triumphant, Rachmaninoff left Russia and became a part of a completely different world…
As I stood at his grave, I found this space resonating within me. When I returned home, I began writing a piano cycle.

In this cycle, Rachmaninoff writes letters to postmodern composers. Rachmaninoff himself was an anti-modernist. He was not a revolutionary, was never "ahead of his time," and was unafraid of looking old-fashioned. At first glance, it would seem that he bore no influence on late 20th/early 21st century composers. Nonetheless, his invisible, magical presence can in fact be heard in the music of some composers, including so-called "contemporary classical" composers and rock musicians. Likewise, when I hear Rachmaninoff's endless melodies that evolve from a very short motive of literally two or three notes, the word "minimalism" all but rolls off my tongue…"

ANTON BATAGOV - Selected Letters of Sergei Rachmaninoff

1. At the Grave of Sergei Rachmaninoff (Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, NY)
2. Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Simeon ten Holt
3. Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Peter Gabriel
4. Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Arvo Pärt
5. Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Ludovico Einaudi
6. Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Philip Glass
7. Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Wim Mertens and Niccolo Paganini
8. Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Brian Eno
9. Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Vladimir Martynov
10. At the Grave of Sergei Rachmaninoff. Postlude