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Shostakovich’s 1950 visit to Leipzig to attend the Bicentennial Bach competition, where he heard and was impressed by Tatiana Nikolayeva playing Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, served as an impetus to write his own set of Twenty-Four Preludes and Fugues, loosely modelled on Bach’s. This he accomplished with remarkable, almost unbelievable speed upon his return home (it took him a mere three and a half months). Nikolayeva, blessed as she was with a phenomenal musical memory, performed Op. 87 for the rest of her life, and her name became practically synonymous with the work. This Op. 87 from Alexander Melnikov approaches the work from first principles to come up with his own, eminently musical solutions.
DVD About the Preludes & fugues, interview with Alexander Melnikov and Andreas Staier A film by Christian Leblé.
Format: NTSC; Language: English; Subtitles: Fr, Ger; Total time: 23’14
“…throughout op.87 we hear the voice of a tormented man, finding again and again the superhuman force to face life as it is – in all its variety, ugliness, and sometimes beauty.” Alexander Melnikov
"He has brought new audiences to [these works], and when you hear him play them, you understand why. Stylistically and temperamentally, they suit him remarkably well. This is music that is strenuous and searching without ever aspiring to flamboyance, and Melnikov is a self-effacing performer. He makes us aware of the music's paradox: that subordination to the rigours of Bach-like form permits great expressive, even political freedom. So we were reminded that the E Minor Prelude and Fugue is one of Shostakovich's big triumph-in-adversity pieces, and that the huge G Sharp Minor coupling into which the first half seemingly collapses is a tragic statement of searing intensity. All this was utterly mesmerising" (The Guardian on a live performance at the Wigmore Hall, 28th April 2011)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.1 in C major. Moderato
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.1 in C major. Moderato (4-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.2 in A minor. Allegro
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.2 in A minor. Allegretto (3-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.3 in G major. Moderato non troppo
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.3 in G major. Allegro molto (3-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.4 in E minor. Andante
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.4 in E minor. Adagio (4-voice double fugue)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.5 in D major. Allegretto
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.5 in D major. Allegretto (3-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.6 in B minor. Allegretto
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.6 in B minor. Moderato (4-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.7 in A major. Allegro poco moderato
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.7 in A major. Allegretto (3-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.8 in F sharp minor. Allegretto
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.8 in F sharp minor. Andante (3-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.9 in E major. Moderato non troppo
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.9 in E major. Allegro (2-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.10 in C sharp minor. Allegro
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.10 in C sharp minor. Moderato (4-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.11 in B major. Allegro
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.11 in B major. Allegro (3-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.12 in G sharp minor. Andante
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.12 in G sharp minor. Allegro (4-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.13 in F sharp minor. Moderato con moto
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.13 in F sharp minor. Adagio (5-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.14 in E flat minor. Adagio
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.14 in E flat minor. Allegro non troppo (3-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.15 in D flat major. Allegretto
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.15 in D flat major. Allegro molto (4-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.16 in B flat minor. Andante
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.16 in B flat minor. Adagio (3-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.17 in A flat major. Allegretto
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.17 in A flat major. Allegretto (4-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.18 in F minor. Moderato
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.18 in F minor. Moderato con moto (4-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.19 in E flat major. Allegretto
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.19 in E flat major. Moderato con moto (3-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.20 in C minor. Adagio
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.20 in C minor. Moderato (4-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.21 in B flat major. Allegro
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.21 in B flat major. Allegro non troppo (3-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.22 in G minor. Moderato non troppo
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.22 in G minor. Moderato (4-voice)
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.23 in F major. Adagio
Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Fugue no.23 in F major. Moderato con moto (3-voice)
25th April 2010
“In this muscular, virile account, [Nikolayeva's] fellow Russian Alexander Melnikov makes you wonder why these works are considered monotonous or didactic. In his virtuosic hands, each one glints.”
June 2010
*****
“Melnikov unquestionably gives an impression of freshness and daring, as if he's discovering the music for the first time...Certainly one's bound to feel, listening to such superb playing, that this is indeed one of the greatest contrapuntal cycles since Bach. Overall, then, a magnificent achievement.”
20th June 2010
*****
“For all his brilliance in the extrovertly Bachian numbers, Melnikov, more than either Nikolayeva or Ashkenazy, is especially compelling in the internalised movements (the C minor and D minor preludes and fugues), baring the innermost thoughts of Shostakovich’s tormented soul. Simply unforgettable.”
August 2010
“Few pianists have shown themselves to be so sensitive to music which is the response of a complex visionary to the corrosive banality of Soviet life at the time...[Melnikov] responds to all this with an impeccable all-Russian mastery and with a poetic commitment few could equal.”
October 2010
“Melnikov is consistently alert to (and in control of) the music's dizzying variety of idioms and tones of voice...[He] conveys the scope of the collection as a totality with such consistent penetration and invention that this expertly engineered set can be enthusiastically endorsed for anyone seeking a complete recording”
March/April 2011
“A towering achievement”
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Preludes & Fugues, op.87: Prelude no.1 in C major. Moderato
