On track: Popov plays the party line

Gavriil Popov is a name to ponder. This Russian composer, who lived from 1904 to 1972, was almost an exact contemporary of Shostakovich and, like his compatriot, experienced the backlash of Soviet philistinism in the 1930s.

Unlike Shostakovich, who survived by creating his own cryptic cat-and-mouse game with the authorities, Popov buckled under, found refuge in the vodka bottle and cheerfully wrote choral works, such as Honour To Our Party, and film scores for party-line epics, such as Komsomol is the Chief of Electrification.

It was Popov's radical First Symphony, premiered in 1935, that caused all the problems. At the time, it must have seemed a surefire hit. It was inspired by the 1905 October Revolution and contained a programme note that described it in terms of "struggle, humanity and the energy, will and joy of the people". Alas, Popov's palette was too wild and vibrant for the conservative komintern.

On CD, Popov's Symphony is made for the London Symphony Orchestra, and American conductor Leon Botstein is just the man to cut to the heart of this extraordinary piece. On the recording side, Telarc contributes its sonic expertise to what must be the 50-minute stereo showcase of the year.

After Popov, Shostakovich's Theme and Variations Opus 3 seems positively demure. Immaculately played, this remains a student work, a score that could have slipped from the pen of Arensky. For completists only.

Most cellists will tell you they feel hard done by in the concerto stakes, and Grieg's so-called Cello Concerto is, in fact, an orchestral spruce-up of the composer's 1883 cello sonata.

But the extra colours are welcome, especially in the dance-like Finale where, in the original, the pianist always struggles to be a one-person orchestra.

ASV has now reissued the 2001 recording by Raphael Wallfisch, as full-toned a soloist as one could wish for, sympathetically backed by the London Philharmonic under Vernon Handley.

Also on the disc are eight Grieg songs, arranged mostly by Wallfisch. They will be manna for some, overblown salon music for others. The problem for me is the almost relentlessly soporific tempos - why weren't some crisper specimens chosen?

* Popov, Symphony No 1 (Telarc CD 80642)

Grieg Cello Concerto (ASV DCA 1176)