Nikolay Lugansky

Nikolay Lugansky was born in 1972 in Moscow. He was studying at Central Music School at Moscow Conservatory under Tatiana Kestner and later on with such professors as Tatiana Nikolayeva and Sergey Dorensky. He continued his postgraduate education under Dorensky supervision. The initial stage of his career as the solo pianist brought him the title of the laureate of the I All-Union competition of young musicians in Tbilisi (1988), VIII International competition of J.S. Bach in Leipzig (1988), All-Union competition of S.V. Rachmaninoff in Moscow (1990), International summer academy Mozarteum (Salzburg, 1992) and the win at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1994.

In 2013, Nikolay Lugansky was awarded the title of the “Honored artist of the Russian Federation”. Today on the count of the soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic and honored member the Russian Academy of arts there are many brilliant artistic achievements. They include collaboration with the best symphonic orchestras of Russia, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, and the USA and of many other countries under the direction of well-known conductors as Evgeny Svetlanov, Yuri Temirkanov, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Spivakov, Vladimir Jurowski, Yuri Simonov, Alexander Vedernikov, Kirill Petrenko, Kurt Masur, Charles Dutoit, Leonard Slatkin, Kent Nagano, Marik Janowski, Gianandrea Noseda and Sakari Oramo. Besides Lugansky`s partners in chamber performances were pianists Vadim Rudenko, Yuja Wang, violinists Vadim Repin, Leonidas Kavakos, Isabelle Faust, Sergey Krylov, cellists Aleksander Knyazev, Aleksander Rudin, Misha Maisky, clarinetist Evgeny Petrov and soprano Anna Netrebko.

Nikolay Lugansky has got a round of applause in the Great Halls of Moscow Conservatory and St.Petersburg Philharmonic, Concert Hall of P.I.Tchaikovsky, Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Theatre des Champs Elysees (Paris), Mozarteum (Salzburg), The Auditorium Parco della Musica  (Rome), Great Hall of Berlin Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall (New York), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Wigmor Hall and Royal Albert Hall (London), Konzerthaus and Musikverein (Vienna) and many other famous halls of the world.

Lugansky is a constant participant of festivals in Roque-d'Anthéron, Colmar, Montpellier and Nantes (France), Ruhr and Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), Verbier and Gstaad (Switzerland) and “December evenings” in Moscow.

The pianist's repertoire includes more than 50 piano concerts, works of different styles and epochs: from Bach to contemporary music. The performance of Chopin's compositions by Nikolay Lugansky, which deserved comparison with the interpretations of the great Alfred Corto, was especially recognized.

The discography of Nikolay Lugansky includes records with such labels as “Melody”, Erato Disques, Warner Classics, Deutsche Grammophon, Naïve, Harmonia Mundi and other companies. His albums have been awarded many international prizes, including the Award of Terence Judd, Diapason d'Or de l'Annee (three times), ECHO Klassik (three times), Choc du Monde de la Music, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and BBC Music Magazine Award.

Since 1998, the pianist has been giving lectures as the professor at the Moscow Conservatory at the department of special piano. Besides, Nikolay Lugansky still gives hundreds of concerts all over the world annually.

Thus, during the 2017/2018 season, Nikolay Lugansky had solo performances in Lyon, Lisbon, New York, Washington, Miami, Paris, Lucerne, Turin, Aix-en-Provence, London and Madrid. Moreover, the pianist gave concerts in collaboration with orchestras under the conduction of Yoel Levi in Seoul, Jukka-Pekka Saraste in Berlin, Charles Dutoit in Hong Kong, Mikhail Pletnev in Geneva, Lahav Shani in Baltimore, Marin Alsop in São Paulo, Sakari Oramo in Alicante, Brescia and Madrid, and Yuri Temirkanov in Rome, Tokyo and Copenhagen.

Among the plans for the 2018/2019 season of the musician there are the release of the records of Claude Debussy`s compositions for the Harmonia Mundi label, China tour with the National orchestra of France, solo concerts in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Amsterdam, Budapest, Paris, London, Berlin and performances with Vasily Petrenko in Oslo, Birmingham, with Yuri Temirkanov in Tokyo and Taiwan, with Juanjo Mena in Madrid, with Stéphane Denève in Brussels, Emmanuel Krivine in Paris and with Tugan Sokhiev in Vienna.

"The pianist of the overwhelming sensitivity, who puts forward not himself, but the music…”
The Daily Telegraph

“…Lugansky has such technical abilities which will make the majority of his colleagues go pale. The movements of his fingers are accurate, the touch is exquisite and the use of the pedal is deliberate. However he is not only the brilliant virtuoso; first of all he is the pianist, who is completely immersed into music…”
Bonner Generalanzeiger

“The main about his music - exquisite taste, stylistic and textual perfection… The instrument sounds as the whole orchestra, and you can hear all the gradations and nuances of orchestral voices”
The Boston Globe

“…Lugansky is not simply the best wonderful Russian pianist of modern times; he is one of the most outstanding artists of our epoch…”
Le Monde