Utwory na płycie:

• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Aria
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 1
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 2
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 3, Dolce
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 4, Risoluto
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 5, Espressivo
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 6
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 7, Con vivacità
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 8
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 9, Poco sostenuto
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 10, Energico
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 11, Dolce
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 12, Soave
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 13, Largamente, ma non più
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 14, Sciolto
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 15
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 16
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 17, Più mosso
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 18, Grazioso
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 19, Leggiero e vivace
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 20
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 21, Dolce
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 22
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 23, Vivace
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 24
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Variation 25
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 - Fuga
• Ballades, Op. 10 – No. 1, Andante
• Ballades, Op. 10 – No. 2, Andante espressivo e dolce
• Ballades, Op. 10 – No. 3, Intermezzo, Allegro
• Ballades, Op. 10 – No. 4, Andante con moto espressivo

Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24
4 Ballades, Op. 10

The incomparable, soul-secirching playing of the veteran Russian pianist Nelly Akopian-Tamarina is captured in a rare studio recording for PENTATONE with a luminous performance of Brahms's towering Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 and the introspective Four Ballades, Op. 10.

In a distinguished tradition of playing stretching back to the great Russian school of Scriabin, Rachmaninov and Medtner through her teacher, the acclaimed virtuoso Alexander Goldenweiser, Nelly Akopian-Tamarina is an exemplar of an exquisitely crafted and poetical style of playing which is subtle probing, deeply lyrical and utterly spellbinding.

Winner of the 1963 Robert Schumann International Competition for Pianists and Singers and recipient of the coveted Robert Schumann Prize in 1974, her career was nevertheless b]ocked by official censorship in the Soviet Union during the 1970s such that she made her London debut on]y in 1983 with a programme of Schumann and Brahms. Her public appearances are all too infrequent but sought after and cherished by aficionados; for an all Brahms recital in 2008 she was praised for her "luminous fortissimi, ice-edged chords fine pianissimos, deliberated textures, intricate pedalling, and expansive, singing melodies'' (Ates Orga) .

For this new release, Akopian-Tamarina approaches the programme with her customary sensitivity and poetic insights to give performances of rare subtlety and perfection. ''Classically framed romantic miniature fantasies, intricate, entwining studies in embroidery, decoration and voicing'', she writes of the Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel ''the twenty-five variations navigate the theme to a coronation of fugal triumph, immeasurable and immortai''. Elsewhere she compares the Four Balladesto the passing of the seasons ''The First, Winter ... icy and unforgiving ... The Second, Spring, is an awakening ... the first buds blushing into life. The Third, Summer, as brief as youth ..„ The Fourth, Autumn, is a symphonic poem, drawing to a close the dissonance of life's pain, touching the untouchable.''

This recording, her first for PENTATONE, was made in the warm acoustic of the Snape Maitings in England.

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This album was recorded at Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Suffolk, England

November 1995 (Op.24); October 1995, January 1996 (Op.10)