Preludes & Fugues;

In 1950, Shostakovich went to Leipzig to attend the Bicentennial Bach competition. His admiration for Tatiana Nikolaeva's performance of the Well-Tempered Clavier served as an impetus to write his own set of twenty-four Preludes and Fugues, loosely modeled on Bach's. Upon its initial release, this recording by Alexander Melnikov received the highest acclaim, and his interpretation was ranked alongside the great Nikolaeva's own.