Shostakovich Piano Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Dmitri Shostakovich
Label: Hyperion
Magazine Review Date: 9/1992
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 73
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CDA66620
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (3) Fantastic Dances |
Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer
Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer Tatyana Nikolaieva, Piano |
| (24) Preludes |
Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer
Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer Tatyana Nikolaieva, Piano |
| Sonata for Piano No. 2 |
Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer
Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer Tatyana Nikolaieva, Piano |
Author:
Shostakovich's piano music has not enjoyed anything like the same success on record as Prokofiev's—maybe it is simply not anything like as good. Certainly no one is better qualified to change that perception than Tatyana Nikolaieva, and her 1991 Gramophone Award-winning set of the Op. 87 Preludes and Fugues for Hyperion has certainly played its part in doing just that.
Sad to say, this new issue is far less successful; indeed it bears all the signs of hasty preparation. As in their recording of the Preludes and Fugues, Hyperion have been able to strike a happy balance between atmosphere and clarity, but the instrument sounds clangy in the treble, boomy in the bass and ill-blended between its registers. Nor is Nikolaieva on good form. Much of her playing is laboured in phrasing, choppy in texture and unpersuasive in shape and character. All too often tempos are painfully slow and there are many dubious readings of the text.
The comparisons make a far more convincing impression in this elusive repertoire; and will RCA please listen to repeated pleas and reissue Gilels's classic account of the Sonata?'
Sad to say, this new issue is far less successful; indeed it bears all the signs of hasty preparation. As in their recording of the Preludes and Fugues, Hyperion have been able to strike a happy balance between atmosphere and clarity, but the instrument sounds clangy in the treble, boomy in the bass and ill-blended between its registers. Nor is Nikolaieva on good form. Much of her playing is laboured in phrasing, choppy in texture and unpersuasive in shape and character. All too often tempos are painfully slow and there are many dubious readings of the text.
The comparisons make a far more convincing impression in this elusive repertoire; and will RCA please listen to repeated pleas and reissue Gilels's classic account of the Sonata?'
Shostakovich Piano Works
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