Shostakovich: 24 Preludes & Fugues, Op. 87

SHOSTAKOVICH 24 Preludes and Fugues, op. 87 & • Tatiana Nikolayeva (pn) • DOREMI 7991-3 (2 CDs: 143:55) & TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 in b?, op. 23 • Tatiana Nikolayeva (pn); Kurt Masur, cond; Leipzig Gewandhaus O • (DVD: 40:34) Tatiana Nikolayeva’s importance to the development of the Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues has never been subject to dispute. It was her performance as a contestant at the International Bach Competition in East Germany in 1950, where Shostakovich was among the judges, that initially inspired the composition. According to the writer Lyubov Rudneva, who witnessed the pile-on of apparatchiks when Shostakovich first performed the finished work before the Committee for the Arts, Nikolayeva was one of the very few to speak about it positively: “Having listened to this work several times, on each hearing it produced a deeper and deeper impression. The work was striking for its variety and multifaceted qualities, and also for t