It is not mere pedantry to suggest that this record is mistitled, for an important third of it is Armenian and shows virtually no Russian characteristics. Aram Khachaturian's suite is a transcription of three pieces from Gayaneh, the ballet famous for the once-inescapable ''Sabre dance''. One of these pieces is in somewhat similar vein; the ''Romance'' is pleasant enough, so far as it goes, and there is a nimble waltz to round matters off. Alexander Arutiunian and Arno Babadjanian were two almost exact contemporaries, born respectively in 1920 and 1921, who felt close enough to each other, and to Armenian folk-music, to join creative forces for this Rhapsody. It begins with a reflective kind of lullaby, then precipitates itself into a more hectic section.
The most interesting part of the record, however, is of course that represented by Shostakovich. His Suite was composed when he was only 15 and just beginning to take a really serious interest in music: it was written in memory of his father, a man who (according to Testimony; Hamish Hamilton: 1979) loved gipsy folk-music and used to sing the songs of the gipsies. There is not much trace of this here, and the piece is haunted not by folk-music but by bells—the deep tolling and the frenzied high clamour of bells in the Russian manner. The invention is extraordinary, and Shostakovich's immaturity only betrays itself in a certain prolixity that is often a characteristic of the greatly gifted tyro composer who has not yet learnt to bridle his talent. This is a welcome discovery. So is the much more lighthearted Concertino of 1953 written for the composer to play with his son Maxim. Apparently it takes some of its nature from the kind of music Shostakovich used once to play in the days of the silent cinema to accompany film epics of various kinds—and comedies, too, to judge by a certain amount of enjoyable Mickey-Mousing. This is a lively, entertaining piece, played with great wit and virtuosity by the two pianists. They are given a fresh, sharp recording that serves them well.'