thumb|right|Nikolayeva in 1956

Tatiana Petrovna Nikolayeva (; May 4, 1924November 22, 1993) was a Soviet and Russian pianist, composer, and teacher.

Life

Nikolayeva was born in Bezhitsa, in the Bryansk district, on May 4, 1924. In 1950, Nikolayeva won first prize in the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig, which was founded to mark the bicentenary of Bach's death in 1750. Dmitri Shostakovich, who was a member of the jury, composed and dedicated the 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, to her: it remained an important part of her piano repertoire. the International Tchaikovsky Competition and the Leeds Piano Competition. Nikolayeva was the teacher of Nikolai Lugansky. Among her other students were András Schiff, whom she taught in summer courses at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar, and Michael Korstick, whom she taught during her master classes at Musikhochschule Cologne, Germany.

She died on November 22, 1993, in San Francisco, nine days after succumbing to a brain haemorrhage during a performance of one of the Op. 87 fugues at the Herbst Theatre.

As James Campbell-Methuen commented in her obituary, "Aside from the Shostakovich, though, Tatiana Nikolayeva will be remembered as a Bach player who flung stylistic considerations to the winds and played the music with an irrepressible musical intelligence and knowledge of the resources of her chosen instrument."

  • 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 (Shostakovich)
  • Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)
  • Piano Concerto No. 2 (Shostakovich)

Compositions

  • Violin Concerto (1972)
  • Symphony (1955; rev. 1958)
  • 24 Concert Études, Op. 13, in all major and minor keys (1951–53)
  • Piano Quintet (1947)

References

  • Short biography and photograph from Hyperion Records
  • Interview with Tatiana Nikolayeva by Bruce Duffie, October 16, 1992