There are in fact quite a few studies on the particular achivements of the Russians - strictly, it is the educated, Western-oriented Russian aristocracy.

Russian aristocracy as a class were strikingly different from the rural, less educated common/ordinary Russian people, the predominant of which were peasants.

In one analysis I remember, the distinctive achivements by the Russian aristocrats were attributed significantly to their mentality and intellectual propensity: their dynamics and open-mindedness; their readiness to draw upon from a variety of more advanced, enlightened Western cultures; their capacity to create and innovate without the restrains imposed by an old culture and tradition and their freedom from ethnocentric intellectual myopia. In short, they are dynamic, energetic, open-minded and ready to create. these characters effectively put the Russian intellectual aristocrats in a better position to create great art. Nabokov and Rachmaninoff were two last Russian aristocrats to make a major contribution to the world civilisation.

I also recommend Orland Figes’ great work: < Natasha’s Dance: A Cultural History of Russia>, a superb accuont of Russia’s cultural history>