The writer of the excellent sleeve-note for this record, Julian Haycock, tells us that ''although the original version [of Tchaikovsky's Second Concerto] is becoming better known, it is still the Siloti version that Russian audiences prefer and which is played on this celebrated live recording''. I wonder if they were asked, and how many chances they have had for comparison? However, if anyone can make a case for Siloti's outrageous cuts it must be Gilels, who plays with prodigious brilliance throughout, and Svetlanov who ensures that the first movement goes with a swing. Interestingly, Gilels does not press the finale too hard yet creates the feeling of bravura from his electrifyingly crisp articulation. It is an exhilarating account throughout with a warmly sympathetic Andante and the solo violin and cello from the USSR State Academy Symphony making the most of what concertante sections are still left to them. If one takes the concerto in its revised form, as it stands, this is a superb account of it; lyrically persuasive and very exciting by turns. Moreover, the 1972 recording is excellent. The balance places the piano too far forward, but who minds when the soloist is Gilels, and his piano timbre is so bold and full? The orchestra are certainly in the picture, Svetlanov sees to that, and they play winningly.
The account of the Concert Fantasia is pretty impressive too. Igor Zhukov gives a superb account of the big central cadenza and is fully equal to the considerable demands of the solo part, whether requiring delicacy or power. The neglect of this piece, both on record and even more in the concert hall, is unaccountable. It has some first class Tchaikovskyan ideas and in the second movement the interplay between the two memorable main themes shows the composer at his most imaginative, both orchestrally and structurally. Again, the recording is excellent and vividly remastered for CD (it dates from 1979). Altogether, this Olympia disc makes a fine supplement to Donohoe's EMI recording (11/87) of the original score of the Second Concerto.'