Nikolayeva, Tatiana (1924–1993)

Russian pianist who played many premieres, especially of the composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Name variations: Tatiana Nikolayeva Petrovna; Tatyana Nikolaeva. Born in Bezhitz (near Bryansk), USSR, on May 4, 1924; died in San Francisco, California, on November 22, 1993.

Received the award of Honored Artist of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (1955).

Tatiana Nikolayeva was born in the Soviet Union in 1924. At age five, she began piano study with her mother, then became a pupil of Alexander Goldenweiser at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating in 1947. After winning first prize in piano at the 1950 Bach Bicentennial Festival in Leipzig, she launched a significant career in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. She began to teach at the Moscow Conservatory in 1959, achieving the rank of professor in 1965. Nikolayeva played many premieres, including the Twenty-four Preludes and Fugues of Dmitri Shostakovich. She assisted the composer during the composition of this major work, which she often performed in public (she gave its world premiere performance in 1952) and recorded on two occasions. She was also a prolific composer, producing symphonies, piano concertos, chamber music and solo piano pieces. Nikolayeva suffered a fatal cerebral hemorrhage while performing the Shostakovich Preludes at a recital in San Francisco, and died in that city on November 22, 1993.

sources:

Canning, Hugh. "Grand piano," in Sunday Times [London]. January 17, 1993, section 8, page 18.

Fanning, David. "Leaves from the Diary," in Gramophone. Vol. 68, no. 814. March 1991, pp. 1627–1628.

Gold, Gerald. "24 Fugues Played Twice by One Pianist," in The New York Times. August 4, 1991, section 2, p. 20.

Finch, Hilary. "Babushka plays Bach," in The Times [London]. January 13, 1993, p. 30.

Oestreich, James R. "Tatyana Nikolayeva's New York Debut (at Last)," in The New York Times. November 1, 1993, p. C15.

——. "Tatyana Nikolayeva, 69, Dead; Pianist and Shostakovich Expert," in The New York Times. November 24, 1993, p. D18.

"Pianist Has Stroke," in The New York Times. November 16, 1993, p. C16.

Richards, Denby. "Tatyana Nikolaeva at the Wigmore," in Musical Opinion. Vol. 116, no. 1381. January 1993, p. 9.

Rockwell, John. "Playing Variations on Shostakovich," in The New York Times. October 25, 1992, section 2, pp. 21, 40.

Yampol'sky, I.M. "Nikolayeva, Tat'yana (Petrovna)," in New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 13, p. 247.

John Haag , Athens, Georgia