Leonard Elschenbroich pulls together this unusual programme of Soviet fare with his own intelligent and provocative booklet-note. He portrays Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904 87) as a creative voice whose cause has been hampered by his closeness to an anathematised regime. I wonder. There might be other reasons for the neglect of his Second Cello Concerto (1964). Those who know Kabalevsky through his children’s pieces or The Comedians suite will be impressed by its high seriousness; the snag is that its invention is so plainly indebted to Prokofiev’s Symphony-Concerto and, to a lesser degree, Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto. Those masterpieces were championed by Mstislav Rostropovich, whereas Kabalevsky was writing for Daniil Shafran, a supreme cellist who toured less. Shafran’s recording, initially yoked to Evgeny Svetlanov’s account of Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony (HMV Melodiya, 12/69), was made under the composer’s direction. These days you can watch them unveiling the concerto together on YouTube.

While Shafran’s unrelenting intensity remains unique, there’s plenty of warmth and technical assurance in this welcome newcomer, considerably more in the way of orchestral detail plus legroom for a certain wistfulness. Andrew Litton is Elschenbroich’s enthusiastic collaborator who, we are assured, is ‘one of the few conductors who has known this piece his whole life’. The (edited) live relay preserves the ample glow of Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and a little of the soloist’s breathing in the demanding cadenzas. Applause is cut.

A ‘big’, not exclusively intimate take on Prokofiev’s Cello Sonata (1949) is the other substantial offering, where rival options extend from the vehemence of Han Na Chang with Sir Antonio Pappano (EMI, 5/03) to the elegant lyricism of Gautier Capuçon with Gabriela Montero (Virgin, 2/08). Given what Elschenbroich says about the composer’s brand of creative escapism, a tad less resonance might have complemented the music’s ‘dream state’ rather better even if the balance between cello and piano is well-judged.

This is an enterprising, thoroughly recommendable release from a coming star who also champions Nino Rota’s rarely performed Cello Concerto No 2. Could that be next?