Going after the rehearsal into the teaching area of the Conservatoire I discovered that Zelikman, my rival, was about to play his recital programme, this having been delayed for ten days because of Nikolayev's illness. I ran into Damskaya and Struve, and was happy to sit with them in a pretty full hall. Zelikman played with authority and skill, and was greeted with warm applause from the audience. He has good attack and a fine technique although some of his tempi are too fast to be absolutely even and clean. The playing is refined and the detail interesting, but I was left with the feeling that it was not always perceptive. Schumann's Carnaval could have had a better performance.