Tatiana Ryumina plays Schumann Kreisleriana - live - corrected pitch

The sensational yet all but forgotten Russian pianist Tatiana Ryumina playing Schumann's Kreisleriana, op. 16, live at the 1974 Tchaikovsky Competition. Ryumina (b. 20 January 1950) studied with Tamara Bobovich at the Central Music School and with Yakov Flier at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating in 1973. Prior to that, in 1969, she placed second at the Schumann competition in Zwickau, and this recording makes it easy to hear why. She competed in the 1974 Tchaikovsky competition, finishing just outside the top six. After that there is no information (see the very bottom).

With Natan Brand and Pletnev, this is my favourite Kreisleriana for several reasons. Her playing is extremely passionate, conjuring disparate moods impetuously. Most importantly though, she plays this with risk, as if trying to express something just out of reach. So many performances of this piece are played safely -- and by safely I don't just mean slowly, as the slow creation of a mood can be among the riskiest things to pull off. By safely I mean without a dynamic and visceral image. Ryumina chases a vision, and that is special and all too rare.

I have taken the existing LP rip and have lowered the pitch by a semitone, consequently slowing the performance down. I've also tried to balance the sound as it was entirely left-sided before. You can find the original rip on YT.

Unfortunately there is almost nothing available of this fantastic and obviously very beautiful pianist. I have uploaded a radio broadcast of Ryumina playing Liszt's Tarantella in the early '80s. Aside from the pictured LP, there is also another LP from the 1974 Tchaikovsky competition which contains two pieces, a Rachmaninoff etude and Tchaikovsky's May. I have read in a Russian blog post that an accident of some sort put an end to her career. I don't have more information than that. Please contact me if you know any more or have any recordings of this very special pianist.

Татьяна Павловна Рюмина - Шуман - Крейслериана

Видео Tatiana Ryumina plays Schumann Kreisleriana - live - corrected pitch канала ADGO