These three titles inaugurate the Goldenweiser School, the last of the three great teaching traditions to be covered in this comprehensive survey of the many great pianists who worked in Russia in the Soviet era. Along with Goldenweiser himself we start with Nikolayeva and Ginzburg. The bulk of the issues in THE RUSSIAN PIANO TRADITION will be divided into 'schools' which represent the three main teachers of this period - Neuhaus, Goldenweiser and Igumnov, - and their pupils. Today Nikolayeva (1924-1993) is remembered mainly as a Bach player and also as the definitive performer of Shostakovich's 24 Preludes & Fugues, which were inspired by, and written for, her after the composer heard her play Bach in the 1950 Leipzig Bach competition (which she won). However, to limit Nikolayeva's reputation to these two composers would be doing her a great disservice. She had a vast repertoire and her recordings include concertos by Bartok, Medtner, Prokofiev Stravinsky and several Soviet composers - including her own concerto, as she was also a composer! Further, she recorded the complete Beethoven sonatas and much other standard repertoire from the 19th century. This CD presents two recording premieres - the first ever recording of the Tchaikovsky Concert Fantasy Op56 and the first recording of the original version of Tchaikovsky's 2nd Piano Concerto.

Firma Melodiya presents a recording of Dmitri Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues performed by Tatiana Nikolayeva. Shostakovich came up with an idea of a polyphonic cycle in 1950 after he took part in the events dedicated to the 200th anniversary of J.S. Bach’s death in Leipzig. As a jury member of the International Piano Competition for the best performance of Bach’s music, Shostakovich was a witness of an unconditional triumph of the young Soviet pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva who won the first prize. Upon finishing the new opus in a surprisingly short period of time (October 1950 to February 1951), Shostakovich dedicated it to Nikolayeva who performed it for the first time in 1952 in Leningrad. Since then the 24 Preludes and Fugues have been played by many pianists, but Tatiana Nikolayeva’s interpretation is still considered a model one. Tatiana Nikolayeva made this recording of Dmitri Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues in 1987.

These preludes and fugures by Shostakovich are not the easiest in the world for interpretation. Think a Slavic Bach. It is unfair to call these works "modern" and it's not just because they are with the confines of a Medieval form. But sometimes the listener will catch something that is reminiscent of 20th centyury Soviet music. These works are miniatures - a form totally at odds with the usual way we consider the composer. Tatiana Nikolayeva is simply brilliant in her interpretation - the clarity is startling. It may take a while but this is a recording that appreciates the more it is heard.

The distinguished Soviet pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva is a name familiar to many as one of the greatest forces behind the wealth of piano talent to flood from the former Soviet Union during the twentieth century.
She was born on 4 May 1924 and began playing the piano at the age of three, subsequently entering the Moscow Conservatoire to study with Alexander Goldenweiser and Yevgeny Golubev. She retained her close connection with the Moscow Conservatoire all her life. Indeed, her name was inscribed twice on the marble Roll of Honour there, first as a pianist, then as a composer.