Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Sergey Prokofiev, Sergey Rachmaninov, Dmitry Shostakovich
Performer: Tatiana Nikolayeva
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Supraphon
Catalogue: SU42162
Release: 2017
Size: 196 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
01. I. Moderato
02. II. Adagio sostenuto
03. III. Allegro scherzando
04. Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 28
Nikolayeva: Three Concert Études, Op. 13
05. I. Etude in E Minor
06. II. Etude in B Minor
07. III. Etude in C Major
Shostakovich: Preludes & Fugues for piano, Op. 87
08. No. 1 in C Major
09. No. 7 in A Major
10. No. 15 in D flat Major
11. Bach: Fantasia in C minor, BWV906
Bach: French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV816
12. I. Allemande
13. II. Courante
14. III. Sarabande
15. IV. Gavotte
16. V. Bourrée
17. VI. Loure
18. VII. Gigue
Bach: Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue in D minor, BWV903
19. I. Fantasia
20. II. Fugue
In the case of the pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva (1924-1993), that overused term “child prodigy” is entirely apt. She began playing the instrument at the age of three and started to compose music when she was 12. At the age of 13, she enrolled at the Moscow Conservatory, after graduating from which she intensively devoted to composition. The turning point in her career emerged in 1950; more significant in her career than winning the first edition of the J. S. Bach International Competition in Leipzig was her encounter with Shostakovich, which turned into a lifelong friendship. With her account of Bach’s music, Nikolayeva inspired Shostakovich to compose his 24 Preludes and Fugues, which she was the first to perform. In February 1951, Nikolayeva was invited to Prague to join the Czech Philharmonic and make a recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and several Bach pieces.
The other Supraphon recordings (of works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Nikolayeva’s own Concert Etudes) were completed in April 1954. Notwithstanding the small number of Tatiana Nikolayeva’s performances recorded for Supraphon on magnetic tapes, their significance is indispensable indeed, as they represent virtually the oldest preserved testimony to the immense mastery of the legendary pianist, before she was discovered by the whole world.