Pianists in the great Russian tradition were, and in many instances still are, renowned for taking no prisoners. That’s the overwhelming impression of Denis Matsuev in these three works, recorded live (though featuring no applause) in the Mariinsky Theatre in November 2014 and April 2015. Close miking of the piano is partly responsible. It makes his playing, already designed to project above a full orchestra to the far reaches of the hall, sound extra-clamorous, almost as though one were sitting beneath the instrument. And it frequently reduces the orchestra, which may well have been perfectly balanced from the perspective of the stalls or balcony, to a sideshow, particularly in the Rachmaninov.

If your ears can adjust, there’s a supremely commanding Rachmaninov No 1 to be savoured here, as clear in its articulation as any I can remember hearing, though in places still rather unyielding in its phrasing, even after making allowances for the recorded balance. Matsuev and Gergiev accept with relish all the invitations to garish humour in Stravinsky’s Capriccio, which means that the element of self-parody surely directed at Stravinsky’s own Concerto for piano and wind is exceptionally clear. Finally, if you think that the Shchedrin sounds abrasive, it is if anything less so than on the composer’s own 1979 Melodiya account. From the same late-’60s phase of early Soviet polystylism that produced, for example, Weinberg’s Trumpet Concerto, this is hardly a profound piece, but it still demonstrates huge talent in the way it maps the values of exhibitionist performance on to the act of composition.

All in all, I’m not sure this is a disc many will want to live with. But if you like your Russian concerto-playing declamatory and armour-plated, it could be just the treat you’ve been looking for.