Nikolai Lugansky was born in Moscow in 1972
into a family of scientists. He began studying the piano at
the age of five, and shortly afterwards was enrolled in the
class of Tatiana Kestner at the Moscow Central Music School.
During his fifth year at the school, Lugansky became a pupil
of Tatiana Nikolaeva, with whom he was to work closely for nine
years. In her last interview, Nikolaeva declared that Lugansky
would be “The Next One” in a line of great Russian
pianists. Lugansky completed his studies at the Moscow Conservatory
with another renowned pianist and teacher, Sergei Dorensky.
In 1988, Lugansky won first prize at the All-Union Competition
for Young Musicians in Tbilisi and second prize at the International
Bach Competition in Leipzig. He went on to win prizes at the
1990 Rachmaninov Competition in Moscow, the 1992 International
Summer Academy “Mozarteum” in Salzburg and the 1994
International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
Lugansky’s glittering career has taken him to many of
the world’s great concert venues. His repertoire includes
over 40 concertos and a diverse range of solo and chamber works.
He has collaborated with such distinguished conductors as Paavo
Berglund, Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Valery Gergiev,
Yoel Levi, Sir Charles Mackerras, Kent Nagano, Michel Plasson,
Mikhail Pletnev, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Leonard Slatkin, Yuri
Temirkanov and Edo de Waart.
Highlights of recent seasons include Lugansky’s appearances
with l’Orchestre de Paris under Christoph Eschenbach,
the Dresden Philharmonic under Marek Janowski and the Gothenburg
Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi. In June 2001, at
the Grieghalle in Bergen, Norway, Lugansky collaborated with
Simone Young and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Grieg’s
Piano Concerto in A minor, the centerpiece of the closing concert
of the Bergen International Piano Festival. In September of
that year, he performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra under
Mikhail Pletnev at the opening concert of the London season.
At the 2002 Edinburgh Festival, he played Rachmaninov's Rhapsody
on a Theme of Paganini with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra
of Moscow Radio under Vladimir Fedoseyev. This year, Lugansky
performed Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody at the Théâtre
des Champs Elysées in Paris, opening the 2003-2004 season
of l’Orchestre National de France, in a concert conducted
by Kurt Masur and broadcast live on radio stations in France,
Belgium, Switzerland and Canada.
In December 2003, Lugansky will collaborate for the first
time with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Stéphane
Deneve. The following week, he will give a recital at the University
of Washington in Seattle, and will make his New York debut at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Lugansky records for Warner Classics and for PentaTone Classics.
His Warner recordings of Chopin Etudes, Rachmaninov
Préludes & Moments musicaux and Chopin Preludes
have each been awarded a Diapason d’Or. In addition,
his Chopin Preludes CD was selected as Editor’s
Choice in Gramophone and cited as one of the “Top
10 Classical Discs of 2002” in The Daily Telegraph.
Lugansky’s latest release on Warner Classics, Rachmaninov
Concertos 1 and 3 with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
under Sakari Oramo, has won two awards to date: Choc du
Monde de la Musique and Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.
His next recording for Warner Classics will be dedicated to
the solo works of Prokofiev. In October 2003 PentaTone Classics
released Lugansky’s recording of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto
No. 1 with Kent Nagano and the Russian National Orchestra.
An avid chess player, Nikolai resides in Moscow with his wife
and two children.