Nikolayeva the Soloist

NIKOLAYEVA the SOLOIST

Nikolayeva the soloist is a powerhouse to be reckoned with. Her strength and her ability to perform on an equal footing with the orchestra are wondrous, but it is the glory of her musicality, her shimmering tone, and her astonishing dynamic range that captivate the listener. her pianissimi are exquisite, her fortes big and vibrant, and at no point in her playing, even in the midst of an orchestral tutti, does one lose the sense that every note must be heard.

It is in the earlier recordings, from the 1950s, that Nikolayeva the soloist can be heard in all her magnificence.

Let us begin with a celebration of Nikolayeva the soloist in a performance of her own first piano concerto. Then on to Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, and Rachmaninov. What a pity that I have been unable to locate recordings of any Beethoven or Brahms concerti, or Chopin, or Schumann, or Grieg, or Prokofiev, or . . .

Nikolayeva Piano Concerto 1 in B Major (1951)
i Allegro vivace (8.09) - ii Andante con moto (8.23) - iii Allegro con fuoco (5.35)

Kirill Kondrashin conducting an unidentified Russian orchestra

Bach Concerto 1 in d minor, BWV 1052

Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducting the USSR State TV & Radio Symphony Orchestra

recorded live in 1965

i Allegro

ii Adagio

iii Allegro

Bach Concerto in A Major, BWV 1055

Kyrill Kondrashin conducting an unidentified orchestra

i Allegro

ii Larghetto - iii Finale: Allegro

Mozart Piano Concerto 22 in E flat Major, K 482
i Allegro (at 0:10) - ii Andante (at 14:53) - iiiRondo: Allegro (at 25:22)

SAULIUS SONDECKIS conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Lithuania

recorded in 1983

Mendelssohn Capriccio brillante, Op 22

Kyrill Kondrashin conducting the USSR State Symphony Orchestra

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto 1 in b flat minor, Op 23

Kurt Masur conductinr the Gewandhausorchester-Leipzig

i Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso -- Allegro con spirito (part I)

[For an inexplicable reason, the sound on the second video containing part II of the first movement has been removed for copyright infringement. Why this would have been done while leaving the other videos intact is a mystery to me. Maybe it's their way of forcing you to buy the video, but as this is a performance that one must have in one's library, I can think of no better way to encourage the purchase of it than to allow it to be heard. Nevertheless, I post it here in any case, You may watch if you can read lips.]