It was for Tatyana Nikolaieva that Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his 24 Preludes and Fugues in 1951–2. Presuming, of course, that Nikolaieva's style hasn't changed too much since then, it's possible to identify characteristics in her Bach playing that must have impressed Shostakovich. It has grandeur and intensity, but also enormous clarity and control—dignity is perhaps the word, even when, as in the Burlesca and Scherzo of the A minor Partita, she finds a note of refined humour. Her picking out of contrapuntal voices is particularly impressive, even if one doesn't agree 100 per cent with her chosen emphases. Sometimes there's an analytical quality, as for instance when she identifies a hidden leading line in the Allemande from the B flat major Partita, but if this implies coldness—detached cerebration—then it must be corrected at once. Listen to her in the Sarabande from the C minor Partita and you'll hear how expressive she can be, for all the poise and control. Her omission of some of Bach's written ornaments occasionally seems like taking chasteness too far—though I don't know what kind of editions she would have had in the USSR in 1980.
Bach on the piano is a different animal from Bach on the harpsichord, and perhaps its better to keep the species separate, but Nikolaieva does have one outstanding competitor in the B flat Partita—Dinu Lipatti, whose 1950 recording is available on EMI ((CD) CDH7 69800-2, 6/89). His beautifully shaped, delicate yet muscular performance of this piece is one of the strongest arguments against the belief that only the period instrument will do. Nikolaieva is sharper-edged, more forceful, but only slightly less impressive. Her fortes are a little too hard in Minuet II—and she's perhaps overfond of the forte/piano contrast in repeats (she observes them all), but the overall impression is still of a master Bach interpreter. Excellent sound with only the ghost of a tape hiss.'