First, the bottom line: this is an inestimably important cello release, one that no aficionado of great string playing can afford to ignore. As a relative youngster Daniil Shafran shared important competition prizes with Rostropovich; but his appearances outside of Russia were rare and most of his recordings remained all but unknown beyond specialist circles. There were one or two exceptions, most notably Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata with the composer at the piano (last here on Revelation, 10/96 – nla), a real ‘cello classic’ if ever there was one that enjoyed limited circulation in the West. Another was Kabalevsky’s lyrical First Cello Concerto (of 1949) which, in its original LP guise (MK, 1/66 – nla), came tethered to the like-minded Third Piano Concerto (with Emil Gilels) and the C major Violin Concerto (with David Oistrakh). It was a showcase production both for a then-popular Soviet composer and a trio of stellar Soviet performers.

The Second Cello Concerto (1964) is rather different, a fairly big work, mostly serious in tone with demanding cadenzas and a wink or two in the direction of Prokofiev’s Symphony-Concerto. Kabalevsky himself was hugely impressed by Shafran’s playing – and little wonder given its sensual tone, its agility in faster music and unerring concentration. Shafran’s sound is very different to Rostropovich’s, more prone to building vibrato on the note – starting ‘cold’ then gradually intensifying the vibration – or alternating notes with, or without, vibrato. Others bent on similar ploys can sound mannered, but not Shafran, whose seamless bowing and widened dynamics, not to mention his extraordinary deftness, have inspired accolades bordering on a cult. Comparisons in the Prokofiev (a much better piece) are especially telling, Rostropovich being earnest but suave, Shafran more colourful but unremittingly intense. Gennady Rozhdestvensky’s mastery of the orchestral score is an added bonus: one might recall that this was the period when he made his greatest Prokofiev recordings.

Sulkhan Tsintsadze’s Five Pieces on Folk Tunes – the fourth sounds as if it’s strayed out of Rimsky’s Capriccio espagnole – remind me of a brilliant encore sequence that Shafran gave at the end of a Wigmore Hall recital some years ago. It was a memorable event that had been facilitated by the ‘Shafranites’ Steven Isserlis, Olli Mustonen and Peter Biddulph. Like Heifetz on the fiddle and Friedman or Horowitz on piano, Shafran packs so much shading and expression into a modest musical time-span that you could as well be listening to a much longer piece: virtually every bar holds its own brand of magic. Shafran’s rapport with pianist Nina Musinyan is a model of persuasive musical collaboration and the slightly scruffy sound has been nicely cleaned up. The Kabalevsky alone is in stereo and there is some excellent annotation by Isserlis and Andrew Stewart.

If you want to investigate further, I’d follow up – if you can find or borrow a copy – with Bach’s Cello Suites Nos 2-5 (Revelation – nla) though it’s worth noting that Melodiya hold a complete set of the Suites (I once owned a copy myself). Could Cello Classics investigate further? I sincerely hope so.