"We don't always enter by the front door: my own entry into Bach's world ...was via an arrangement (Stokowski's) of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, but though it took me a little time to find where the front door was, I had just as surely gained access ... others might do so rather more directly, by means of Nikolayeva's version of the same work, played with due majesty and an apt sense of drama, and given something of an organ-like palette of colour . ...(she) is, however, a romantic at heart and so too is her view of much of the other music. The Chaconne is.. majestic and heartfelt (and over-dressed) but it isn't 'baroque'. ...As a statement of love and respect by a superb pianist this is an eloquent recording ".
(Gramophone) |
