Piano lovers would love this work of fusion, and that too especially if you are a big fan of Richard Clayderman who is considered the Prince of Romance the world over. The great pianist playing the western instrument takes up space next to the santoor and who better to play it than the very talented Rahul Sharma. Richard Clayderman and Rahul Sharma (son of the incomparable Pandit Shivkumar Sharma) are established names in their respective fields who need no introduction to music lovers.

You are sure to be captivated by the songs. The tracks on the CD have a strong classical orientation, including a handful of golden Bollywood movie favorites and just about every track is good. Picking a favorite is hard as all the numbers are good but if we had to choose, we would recommend the opening Together, Jaisalmer and Blues Heaven for the interweaving of melody from instrument to instrument. The Beatles are surely Sharma and Clayderman’s favorite band and so it is no surprise that we have Norwegian Wood here. Other tracks on Side B are Ecstasy, Shangrila and Celebration that have their good moments.

Perfectly titled ‘The Confluence’, it features the best of both prodigies. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes Richard Clayderman or Rahul Sharma. Great artists. No words to express.

The paring of the two instruments made the album stronger to listen to. But when you think of combining or pairing the instruments, what they are really doing is that it is not played in totality together, but rather just played songs where the two instruments take turns and each comes in his or own segment. There are no moments where the two of them actually play together and build off of each other... and it never happens. Whatever the case maybe the santoor-piano crossover still makes it a replayable album.

Richard Clayderman does bring a lot of his romantic touch to the music. If you have heard both artists perform live, this recording is a welcome collection change from the usual fare we listen to.

Rating: ****1/2

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira