In whatever recorded format you choose to acquire it this account of the Rococo Variations is, I would say, the one to have: it is so far the only version that presents Tchaikovsky's variations as he wrote them, in the order that he devised and including the allegretto moderato con anima that the work's first interpreter, ''loathsome Fitzenhagen'', so high-handedly jettisoned. The first advantage is as great as the second: how necessary the brief cadenza and the andante that it introduces now seem, as an up-beat to the central sequence of quick variations (Fitzenhagen moved both cadenza and andante to the end). And the other, shorter cadenza now makes a satisfying transition from that sequence to the balancing andante sostenuto, from which the long-suppressed eighth variation (not a major musical discovery in itself) is an obvious build-up to the coda—why, the piece has a form, after all!
Raphael Wallfisch's fine performance keeps the qualifying adjective 'rococo' in mind—it is not indulgently over-romantic, in short—but it has warmth and beauty of tone in abundance. The shorter pieces are well worth having: the baritone voice of the cello suits the Andante cantabile and the Tatyana-like melody of the Nocturne surprisingly aptly and emphasizes the devout, liturgical quality of the Legend. The CD sound is quite first class: cello tone is rendered with great realism, and the smallish orchestra appears in a very natural perspective.'