The popular Khachaturian Concerto of 1940 has been recorded by its dedicatee David Oistrakh under the composer's own baton, and Kabalevsky's slightly later piece, dating from 1948, the year of the Zhdanov Congress, appeared in an Oistrakh recording under the composer coupled with the Khachaturian (Le Chant du Monde/Harmonia Mundi). However, these performances, masterly though they are, come from 1966 and 1955 respectively, and although the presence of the composers naturally lends them a special authority, the present issue has the advantage of good modern sound.
To dismiss the Khachaturian as meretricious is harsh; the toothsome zigeuner charm it exudes is in its way quite genuine, and having got to know it in its wartime recording by Oistrakh and Alexander Gauk, on five red-label Decca 78s (3/43), pressed on what sounded like dog-biscuits, I have a soft spot for it. It is written to entertain, as indeed is the Kabalevsky, which like his First Cello Concerto is compact, taking a little over a quarter of an hour. It is pretty empty, but there is a folk-like slow movement to which I have returned with pleasure, that is both touching and in its way captivating. Lydia Mordkovitch dashes it off with impressive abandon, and Neeme Jarvi and the Royal SNO are supportive and sensitive. The recording as such is superior to the rival disc listed above, and in the best traditions of the house.'