Khachaturian’s 1946 Cello Concerto has never been as popular as the ones for piano or violin. It certainly got off to a bad start, being one of the pieces, along with works by Prokofiev and Shostakovich, that excited the wrath of the cultural commissar Zhdanov. Zhdanov objected to “the cult of atonality, dissonance and discord”, and it’s true that Khachaturian shows here a liking for dissonant harmonies. But this concerto’s prevailing character is strongly tonal, not at all obscure, and though the predominating tone is melancholy, the folk-based idiom, with its repetitions, ostinatos and touches of exotic, oriental colouring, is immediately attractive.

Khachaturian uses the cello’s full range most effectively and Dmitry Yablonsky serves the work well. His unforced tone has a natural presence and penetration, and he’s able to rise, seemingly with little effort, to an impressive, full intensity at climactic moments. In some of the more difficult passages in double-stopping, however, his tuning isn’t quite pure. The orchestra plays the quicker music with considerable verve, and in the score’s darker episodes, such as the opening of the Andante and the central part of the finale, creates a powerful, sombre atmosphere.

The Concerto-Rhapsody, a virtuoso vehicle for Rostropovich written in 1963, seems to me a much less memorable piece than the Concerto, lacking the earlier work’s clear structure and distinctive thematic invention. In this spirited performance, however, we can hear enough of the composer’s creative personality – energetic, colourful and romantic – to make listening a pleasure.