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Nikolayeva, Tat′yana ( Petrovna )locked

Nikolayeva, Tat′yana ( Petrovna )locked

  • James Methuen-Campbell

( b Bezhitza, May 4, 1924; d San Francisco, Nov 22, 1993). Russian pianist, teacher and composer . Her mother was a professional pianist and former pupil of Godenweiser, with whom Nikolayeva herself had lessons from the age of 13. She continued studies with him at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating from his class in 1947 and, following that, from Golubev's composition class in 1950. In the latter year she won first prize at the Bach Competition in Leipzig. Shostakovich was a member of the jury and was so impressed with her playing that he took a special interest in her career and later wrote the 24 Preludes and Fugues op.87 with her in mind. Nikolayeva recorded the set three times. She began teaching at the Moscow Conservatory in 1959, and from 1965 was a professor. Although she had an extensive career throughout the USSR and Eastern bloc countries, it was not until the 1980s that her playing became widely known in Western Europe, where her interpretation of Bach, in particular, was admired for its intelligence and resourceful use of tonal variety. Her repertory was comprehensive, with cyclical performances of works such as Bach's ‘48’ and Art of Fugue and the 32 Beethoven sonatas being a speciality. Nikolayeva's own compositions, which include two piano concertos, a set of 24 concert studies for piano, a piano sonata and quintet, as well as symphonic music, are based on firmly polyphonic structures – a characteristic that was so much the mark of her own approach to interpretation.