Alexander Borodin composed one of the most popular pieces in the romantic quartet repertoire, probably because it is a sort of love letter dedicated to Borodin's wife Ekaterina. (...) Dmitri Shostakovich composed an autobiography in music: After twenty-five years of 'inner emigration' he allowed himself once more to be personal, even if only in words to the wise. (...) And the third composer on this recording was was considered a well-kept secret of the Soviet Union for long for the western world: Moisei Vainberg, or (likewise in Russian) Mieczyslaw Weinberg.