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Brahms: Handel Variations & Ballades / Akopian-Tamarina
PENTATONE

Brahms: Handel Variations & Ballades / Akopian-Tamarina

$14.99
$19.99 Save 25%

Details

Composer
BRAHMS, JOHANNES
Artist
Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
Format
CD
Label
PENTATONE
Released
Nov 17, 2017
Catalog #
PTC5186677
UPC
827949067761

About

The incomparable, soul-searching 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 blocked by official censorship in the Soviet Union during the 1970s such that she made her London debut only in 1983 with a program of Schumann and Brahms. For this new release, Akopian-Tamarina approaches the program 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 immortal”.

REVIEW:

This is something special. Nelly Akopian-Tamarina is a pianist of the Russian old school, part of a tradition stretching back to Rubinstein and Rachmaninoff, and was winning competitions in the 1960s. But since the early years her public performances have been rare, her recordings even more so—this all-Brahms disc has waited over 20 years to be released. It is captivating. The sense of intimacy in the Third and Fourth Ballades is perhaps explained when you read that they were recorded after session hours when she thought she was alone, unaware that the producer had slipped into the studio and turned on the microphone. There’s a feeling of time being suspended throughout, of Brahms’s long spans being masterfully, seamlessly molded with a finely graded, delicate touch. Alongside the four Ballades we hear the mighty Handel Variations, to which she brings a sense of quiet resolve and onward motion that is irresistible.

-- The Guardian (UK)

Tracklist 31 tracks

  1. 1 Aria 01:11
    Track
    1
    Title
    Aria
    Duration
    01:11
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  2. 2 Variation 1 01:06
    Track
    2
    Title
    Variation 1
    Duration
    01:06
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  3. 3 Variation 2 00:47
    Track
    3
    Title
    Variation 2
    Duration
    00:47
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  4. 4 Variation 3 01:05
    Track
    4
    Title
    Variation 3
    Duration
    01:05
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  5. 5 Variation 4 01:00
    Track
    5
    Title
    Variation 4
    Duration
    01:00
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  6. 6 Variation 5 01:22
    Track
    6
    Title
    Variation 5
    Duration
    01:22
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  7. 7 Variation 6 01:09
    Track
    7
    Title
    Variation 6
    Duration
    01:09
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  8. 8 Variation 7 00:35
    Track
    8
    Title
    Variation 7
    Duration
    00:35
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  9. 9 Variation 8 00:37
    Track
    9
    Title
    Variation 8
    Duration
    00:37
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  10. 10 Variation 9 01:25
    Track
    10
    Title
    Variation 9
    Duration
    01:25
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  11. 11 Variation 10 00:42
    Track
    11
    Title
    Variation 10
    Duration
    00:42
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  12. 12 Variation 11 01:07
    Track
    12
    Title
    Variation 11
    Duration
    01:07
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  13. 13 Variation 12 01:16
    Track
    13
    Title
    Variation 12
    Duration
    01:16
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  14. 14 Variation 13 01:38
    Track
    14
    Title
    Variation 13
    Duration
    01:38
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  15. 15 Variation 14 00:40
    Track
    15
    Title
    Variation 14
    Duration
    00:40
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  16. 16 Variation 15 00:50
    Track
    16
    Title
    Variation 15
    Duration
    00:50
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  17. 17 Variation 16 00:44
    Track
    17
    Title
    Variation 16
    Duration
    00:44
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  18. 18 Variation 17 00:48
    Track
    18
    Title
    Variation 17
    Duration
    00:48
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  19. 19 Variation 18 01:10
    Track
    19
    Title
    Variation 18
    Duration
    01:10
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  20. 20 Variation 19 01:10
    Track
    20
    Title
    Variation 19
    Duration
    01:10
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  21. 21 Variation 20 01:15
    Track
    21
    Title
    Variation 20
    Duration
    01:15
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  22. 22 Variation 21 01:03
    Track
    22
    Title
    Variation 21
    Duration
    01:03
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  23. 23 Variation 22 01:12
    Track
    23
    Title
    Variation 22
    Duration
    01:12
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  24. 24 Variation 23 00:37
    Track
    24
    Title
    Variation 23
    Duration
    00:37
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  25. 25 Variation 24 00:36
    Track
    25
    Title
    Variation 24
    Duration
    00:36
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  26. 26 Variation 25 00:59
    Track
    26
    Title
    Variation 25
    Duration
    00:59
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  27. 27 Fugue 07:11
    Track
    27
    Title
    Fugue
    Duration
    07:11
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  28. 28 No. 1 in D Minor, "Edward" 05:29
    Track
    28
    Title
    No. 1 in D Minor, "Edward"
    Duration
    05:29
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  29. 29 No. 2 in D Major 07:26
    Track
    29
    Title
    No. 2 in D Major
    Duration
    07:26
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  30. 30 No. 3 in B Minor 04:38
    Track
    30
    Title
    No. 3 in B Minor
    Duration
    04:38
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina
  31. 31 No. 4 in B Major 12:35
    Track
    31
    Title
    No. 4 in B Major
    Duration
    12:35
    Composer
    Johannes Brahms
    Performer
    Nelly Akopian-Tamarina