Recently I got tons of new CDs, and I spent like several days listening to one or two items among them (namely, the boxset of Schubert's works played by Brendel, and his "nearly" complete recording of Beethoven's sonatas) But what I want to write about now is something I just started listening to yesterday.

The first item is a bit "lighter:"

This CD, released by Hyperion, includes the Three Fantastic Dances, op. 5, 24 Preludes op. 34, and Sonata no.2 op. 61. The first set of item is clearly fantastic, as it title suggests. I mean, this is typical style of Shostakovich and I love it. The 24 Preludes are beautifully played. As for the Sonata I haven't spent enough time on, but it sounds great even by my first few listening. Both the Dances and the Preludes are technically quite manageable for young students but the musical content is not easy to comprehend. To play Shostakocih well you have to have great technique, but more importantly the sense of rubato. His works cannot be termed romantic music, but there's a spirit in his music that is close to Chopin. Tatiana Nikolaeva is excellent in conveying this feeling. You do not hear HER style in this CD; instead, when you listen to it you only see all these fleeting visions that Shostakovich is trying to show you. Late works by Chopin has left the world that can be comprehended verbally. This is true basically in all of Shostakovich's works. At times abstract, it is in fact what true music is trying to express, something only can music can do.

To stretch this "abstract" music thing further, here comes the "24 Preludes and Fugues:"

Usually the picture of the composer is bigger than the picture of the performer; a rare exception was found in Idil Biret's recording of Chopin's concerti, and in this 3-CDs set, played by Tatiana Nikolaeva. I think she has all the right to be shown as big as Shostakovich here, since she's the one (in my opinion) who plays this set by far the best, and she's the one who inspired Shostakovich to write this set, and she's the dedicatee of this set, and, finally, she died in the middle of playing this set in a recital in San Francisco. I think when you talk about the "24 Preludes and Fugues by Shostakovich," you think about Tatiana Nikolaeva. To be consistent with the theory that this set is even more "abstract" (meaning can't be described by words), I would simply say this is a set of majestic, elegant music that must be heard. Too bad I think I have to work out my fingerings for them (FUGUES!!), otherwise I will begin playing them right now.