Nikolaï Luganski
Piano
Nikolai Lugansky is considered one of the outstanding Rachmaninov interpreters of our time. So, for his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2016, it was no coincidence that he presented what is considered the crowning achievement of Rachmaninov’s piano oeuvre: the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini op. 43.
Nikolai Lugansky is considered one of the outstanding Rachmaninov interpreters of our time. So, for his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2016, it was no coincidence that he presented what is considered the crowning achievement of Rachmaninov’s piano oeuvre: the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini op. 43. Nikolai Lugansky was born in Moscow in 1972. His teachers included Tatyana Nikolayeva, who, as a world-renowned Bach interpreter, inspired none other than Dmitri Shostakovich to write his Preludes and Fugues op. 87. Lugansky’s international career began in 1994 when she won the Tenth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Since then, he has made guest appearances with the best symphony orchestras from Russia, France, Germany, Japan and the USA under the baton of renowned conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Yuri Temirkanov, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Jurowski, Leonard Slatkin, Kent Nagano and Sakari Oramo. Nikolai Lugansky performs regularly at the BBC Proms, La Roque d’Anthéron and the Verbier and Gstaad Festivals. His chamber music partners include Vadim Repin, Leonidas Kavakos, Gautier Capuçon and Mischa Maisky. In 2019, Lugansky was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation for his “contribution to the development of national and world musical culture”. He is artistic director of the Rachmaninov Festival in Tambov and patron of the memorial at Rachmaninov’s estate, now the Ivanovka Museum, where he frequently performs. He also teaches as a professor at the Moscow Conservatory.
