Shostakovich: Preludes & Fugues for piano (24), Op. 87
Peter Donohoe (piano)
Donohoe approaches the music with detachment and a good deal of poise, observing Shostakovich’s sparse performing instructions to the letter. His control of fingerwork in the more densely textured...
Shostakovich: Preludes & Fugues for piano (24), Op. 87
Peter Donohoe (piano)
Purchase product
Donohoe approaches the music with detachment and a good deal of poise, observing Shostakovich’s sparse performing instructions to the letter. His control of fingerwork in the more densely textured...
About
Celebrated international pianist Peter Donohoe begins a new series of Shostakovich releases on Signum Classics with this new recording of Dmitri Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87.
All 24 of the preludes and fugues were composed within several months of each other, after Shostakovich was inspired by the performance of Tatiana Nicolayeva, whom he heard as a jurist for the Leipzig Bach Competition in 1951. Although doubtlessly inspired by J.S. Bach’s own 48 Preludes and Fugues in his use of form and counterpoint, Shostakovich’s compositions are all deeply original and rooted in his own enigmatic and ambiguous style, moving from charming simplicity to dazzling virtuosity.
Contents and tracklist
Spotlight on this release
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Peter Donohoe on Shostakovich
17th May 2017
Peter Donohoe talks to David about his new recording of Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues.
Awards and reviews
June 2017
Donohoe approaches the music with detachment and a good deal of poise, observing Shostakovich’s sparse performing instructions to the letter. His control of fingerwork in the more densely textured movements, such as the frenzied quasi-atonal D flat major Fugue, is mightily impressive
May 2017
Donohoe’s clean-cut and perceptive keyboard workmanship attests to a natural affinity for this composer’s idiom, as numerous details bear out…one cannot dispute [his] high standards and musical intelligence, not to mention his superb and perceptive booklet notes
June 2017
With impeccable musicality and a fine ear for all of Shostakovich’s moods Donohoe never puts a foot wrong… Hesitate not. This is a recording of Shostakovich’s 2 Preludes and Fugues that you’ll want to keep close and guard well
16th April 2017
These two discs present musical invention at its most purely exhilarating. ..Donohoe’s commitment is superb.
30th March 2017
Donohoe treats these piano miniatures with utmost sincerity. His new recording of the complete set isn’t introspective or showy; it isn’t overly reverent or sensationalist. Above all his playing is frank, sometimes to the point of plainness...there is immense dignity and power in Donohoe’s directness.
Classical Music May 2017
Playing straight, expansively and respectfully… his approach is cogent.
