When it came to the Yesipova class exam, Boris [Zakharov] was the last but one to play, and did so magnificently. His performance was of Rachmaninov's First Concerto; this work was really too undemanding for him and for the prestigious position it occupied in the programme, something for which I more than once criticized him. To follow such a difficult work as the Glazunov sonata, which he had played the year before, with the Rachmaninov Concerto was actually rather shameful.