Edison Denisov is a versatile, not to say chameleon-like composer, whose skills have been turned in many directions. Some of these can be heard here. The Cello Suite of 1961 is, loosely, neo-classical (loosely because 'neo-classical' is a very loose term). In it, he writes a suave Minuet and a dapper Fugue. The Three Pieces turn to Webern after the fashion followed by many other composers at the time they were written, namely 1967. For the Piano Variations, the exemplar is more Schoenberg's neo-classical manner of the early 1920s, as with his Piano Suite and Five Orchestral Pieces. The Duets find common ground between cello and bassoon, with an Allegro moderato that chunters away affably. With Pour Daniel (the Daniel come to this judgement being Barenboim), there is a more reflective, linear, chromatic manner that produces a well-wrought meditation.
All these pieces are very short. The longest on the record is the set of Variations on a Schubert Theme which has been recorded before, and well displays Denisov's abilities. The theme in question is the A flat Impromptu, which opens the proceedings on the piano and is gradually subsumed further and further into Denisov's own invention until it seems to have been wholly absorbed and is barely audible; at which point it returns in Schubertian form with the cello winding a garland of notes about it. The effect is touching and the piece suggests that Denisov is at his most successful when he has a technique or a model to which he can apply an invention which is stronger than his imagination, The performances are excellent and the recording clear.'