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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
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| 1. Prelude And Fugue No 1 In C Major: Prelude : Moderato - D. Shostakovich | |||
| 2. Prelude And Fugue No 1 In C Major: Fugue Moderato - D. Shostakovich | |||
| 3. Prelude And Fugue No 2 In A Minor: Prelude: Allegro - D. Shostakovich | |||
| 4. Prelude And Fugue No 2 In A Minor: Fugue: Allegro - D. Shostakovich | |||
| 5. Prelude And Fugue No 4 In E Minor: Prelude: Andante - D. Shostakovich | |||
| 6. Prelude And Fugue No 4 In E Minor: Fugue Adagio -- Piu mosso - D. Shostakovich | |||
See all 20 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Prelude And Fugue No 11 B Major: Prelude: Allegro (2,2; 80 Bars) - Dmitri Shostakovich | |||
| 2. Prelude And Fugue No 11 B Major: Fugue (3 Voices): Allegro (2,4; 138 Bars) - Dmitri Shostakovich | |||
| 3. Prelude And Fugue No 12 In G Sharp Minor: Prelude: Andante (3,4; 119 Bars) - Dmitri Shostakovich | |||
| 4. Prelude And Fugue No 12 In G Sharp Minor: Fugue(4 Voices): Allegro (5,4; 123 Bars) - Dmitri Shostakovich | |||
| 5. Prelude And Fugue No 13 In F Sharp Major: Prelude: Moderato con moto (6,8; 55 Bars) - Dmitri Shostakovich | |||
| 6. Prelude And Fugue No 13 In F Sharp Major: Fugue (5 Voices): Adagio (2,4; 164 Bars) - Dmitri Shostakovich | |||
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See all 14 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 3 | |||
| 1. Prelude And Fugue No 18 In F Minor: Prelude: Moderato (3,4; 50 Bars) - Dmitri Shostakovich | |||
| 2. Prelude And Fugue No 18 In F Minor: Fugue (4 Voices): Moderato con moto (2,4; 210 Bars) - Dmitri Shostakovich | |||
| 3. Prelude And Fugue No 19 In E Flat Major: Prelude: Allegretto (3,4; 133 Bars) - Dmitri Shostakovich | |||
| 4. Prelude And Fugue No 19 In E Flat Major: Fugue (3 Voices): Moderato con moto (5,4; 72 Bars) - Dmitri Shostakovich | |||
| 5. Prelude And Fugue No 20 In C Minor: Prelude: Adagio (4,4; 59 Bars) - Dmitri Shostakovich | |||
| 6. Prelude And Fugue No 20 In C Minor: Fugue (4 Voices): Moderato (4,4; 124 Bars) - Dmitri Shostakovich | |||
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See all 14 tracks on this disc
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Product Description
Review
CLASSIC CD TOP 100 CDs OF ALL TIME 'Performances which are at once gripping through their pianistic brilliancs and illuminating through their unflinching perception. Amazing' (Classic CD) 'The recording is clear and atmospheric, and the playing has power, grandeur, character, intellectual clarity and unforced intensity' GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER --Gramophone
'The record that has given me greater pleasure than any other this year' --The Sunday Times
'This magnificent set courageously undertaken by Hyperion, a timely document of an interpretation fashioned from Nikolayeva's collaboration with the composer at the time of composition' --BBC Music Magazine Top 1000 CDs Guide
'The record that has given me greater pleasure than any other this year' --The Sunday Times
'This magnificent set courageously undertaken by Hyperion, a timely document of an interpretation fashioned from Nikolayeva's collaboration with the composer at the time of composition' --BBC Music Magazine Top 1000 CDs Guide
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Most devotees of classical music will certainly be aware of the concept of the Prelude and Fugue thanks to that first master of the tone and semitone, Johann Sebastian Bach.
Inspired by Bach, Shostakovich created a 3-hour masterpiece, where the preludes and fugues often complement, often contradict but always enamour. It was dedicated to the pianist Tatiana Nikolaeva, who gave it's first performance, and it is a later recording of hers that is presented here.
Nikolaeva couples the humanity and authority of the pieces effortlessly, and she stands out as the foremost interpreter of this work.
Heartily recommended to any with a love for the piano and its possibilities.
Inspired by Bach, Shostakovich created a 3-hour masterpiece, where the preludes and fugues often complement, often contradict but always enamour. It was dedicated to the pianist Tatiana Nikolaeva, who gave it's first performance, and it is a later recording of hers that is presented here.
Nikolaeva couples the humanity and authority of the pieces effortlessly, and she stands out as the foremost interpreter of this work.
Heartily recommended to any with a love for the piano and its possibilities.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Unfortunately there's no widely available recording of the Preludes and Fugues with Nikolayeva at the height of her powers (there's a notoriously hard to find recording from the 60s in really poor sound, but that's another story...), so we have to make do with this 1990 cycle and the Regis one from 1987. They're pretty similar, apart from the acoustics - quite murky here, very dry on Regis. Neither is ideal, and nor is Nikolayeva's playing: her technique is past its best, and that shows in some of the faster numbers. This set is even sloppier than the 1987 one, which is why I'd recommend that one over this. Other pieces are so slow they almost grind to a halt. Yet there's no denying the authority of her playing and the cumulative impact of the cycle.
In an ideal world, there would be a complete recording by Sviatoslav Richter, or a Nikolayeva from the 60s and 70s in good sound. As it is, the most consistently satisfying recordings are by Konstantin Scherbakov on Naxos and Ashkenazy.
In an ideal world, there would be a complete recording by Sviatoslav Richter, or a Nikolayeva from the 60s and 70s in good sound. As it is, the most consistently satisfying recordings are by Konstantin Scherbakov on Naxos and Ashkenazy.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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11 reviews
27 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Often slow and labored... and too expensive
6 Mar 2004
Format:Audio CD
Tatiana Nikolayeva is considered the foremost interpreter of these works, but these are probably not her best recordings of the Preludes and Fugues. She made earlier recordings on the Melodiya label that are generally said to be technically better and equipped with more spirit than these 1990 accounts on Hyperion. As I've been informed, you can find that set on a new issue from the Regis label. This one, however, is far from ideal. Many of these preludes and fugues sound labored and heavy, and above all slow. She takes fairly everything at much more restrained tempi than the composer indicated; sometimes with wonderful results but often the music suffers of it. The humor in the E flat major prelude gets totally lost, for example, and the tension in the E flat minor sounds fabricated instead of natural. There's no question that she can also be staggeringly beautiful, such as in the sunny A major fugue or the A flat major prelude, but in the end the set's unevenness is too large. Much of the spirit in Shostakovich' music has gone here, and many fugues are played so slowly that they made me quite impatient. Additionally, her dragging takes often result in a very pounding, labored and tiresome sound, like in the G major and D flat major fugues. The muddy studio sound of Hyperion doesn't help either. So, in spite of many fine moments, this set is too unbalanced to get a really good recommendation. I'd go for Ashkenazy, who plays much faster, more vivid and natural and without Nikolayeva's too affected touch. Or maybe Scherbakov or Nikolayeva's earlier set, though I don't know the two of those myself. And, finally: you can get both Ashkenazy and Scherbakov at a much lower price than this set alone.
(To a few other reviewers: yes, it's possible not to like this set as much as you do)
(To a few other reviewers: yes, it's possible not to like this set as much as you do)
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
sublime brilliance
3 Dec 1999
Format:Audio CD
Tatiana Nikolayeva's recording is simply hypnotic. Anyone familiar with Shostakovitch will also know that he was a sensitive pianist, and Mrs Nikolayeva frames the composer's persona perfectly. She manages to identify and personify the romantic melancholy, the reticient joy and dramatic tension of Shostakovitch. Her playing evokes a kind of wordless poetry, transporting you to settings that are almost physical: a moody apartment on a gray day, a solitary contemplation on the riverbank, a stroll through an empty park, an afternoon in a sad cafe, the beautiful face of a stranger too shy to return your unspoken advances. Magical.
12 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5 Stars for a dead-on review too
10 July 2005
Format:Audio CD
"A MUSIC FAN" below gets right to an important point. I purchased this set because I wanted to hear what this highly regarded (by other professionals) artist had to say about these pieces. Yes, they're slower than others, Knappertsbusch and Klemperer took slower tempos than most. Glenn Gould did unusual interpretations. Schnabel missed keys. So what--these people are not hacks or grammar school music teachers from Muncie, Indiana. I like knowing that she took slower tempos--I knew what to expect--but it's hardly grounds for condemning the interpretation. I totally agree with A MUSIC FAN about the attitude problem, it's part of what's killing classical music.
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