At the height of his powers as a cellist in the 1960s‚ Rostropovich had an enormous repertory‚ ranging from the greatest music written for his instrument down to works by certain contemporaries which he would dutifully learn by heart and then find he had forgotten the minute the première was over. Khachaturian’s Concerto­ Rhapsody is no masterpiece‚ but it provides easy listening partly because it concentrates on far from easy playing: this is a showcase for a virtuoso‚ and Rostropovich duly obliges with phenomenal technical dexterity. Tchaikovsky’s Variations are of quite a different order‚ and Rostropovich made several recordings in the 1960s. He always preferred the received version‚ that is‚ the selection and order of movements more or less dictated to posterity by the first performer‚ Wilhelm Fitzenhagen. One can regret that he did not prefer the composer’s original (and the arguments are not absolutely clear cut) while taking pleasure in the wonderful simplicity of his phrasing here‚ for instance in the beautiful Andante sostenuto variation‚ and the lightness yet resonance of tone which he employs to match the nature of the expression. Shostakovich’s Second Concerto is‚ of course‚ a much more substantial work‚ and perhaps it would have claimed a firmer place in the repertory but for the ready appeal of its predecessor. Rostropovich has always championed it‚ and has recorded it more than once; its première and a different performance‚ both with Evgeny Svetlanov‚ can be heard as part of the marathon collection of Russian recordings made between 1950 and 1974 and issued in 1997. This 1966 version with Colin Davis‚ well remastered from its Festival Hall performance‚ differs little in approach to his well­established interpretation‚ but is another eloquent advocate for a masterly work.