Tatiana Nikolayeva plays Chostakovitch

In 1950, Shostakovich was sent to Germany, then partially occupied by the USSR, as a Soviet delegate. There he met young pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva, a recent conservatoire graduate, who had just won the competition held to commemorate the bicentenary of J.S. Bach’s death, thanks to her performance of the complete Well-Tempered Clavier. Inspired by her remarkable talent, Shostakovich composed the 24 Preludes and Fugues in her honor, channeling the spirit of the German composer she had so deeply mastered. Forty-seven years later, Nikolayeva revisits ten of these pieces in this archival recording—works that not only pay homage to Bach but also bear the unmistakable stamp of Shostakovich’s own genius, creating a body of music that is at once a fusion of eras and enduringly timeless.