Capable of great refinement and sensitivity in Mozart and Schumann, and breathtaking virtuosity in Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, Nikolai Lugansky is a pianist of extraordinary depth and versatility. Hailed by his former teacher Tatiana Nikolajeva as the "next one" in line in the succession of great Russian pianists, he won the Tchaikovsky International Competition in 1994. He has since gone on to develop a career at the highest level, regularly appearing at concert halls such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Zurich Tonhalle and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Working regularly with the top international orchestras including the Orchestre de Paris, Münchner Philharmoniker, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Russian National Orchestra, Lugansky collaborates with conductors as distinguished and diverse as Charles Dutoit, Kent Nagano, Sakari Oramo, Kurt Masur, Vladimir Jurowski and Emmanuel Krivine.
Forthcoming engagements include recitals at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris and London's Southbank Centre, and tours of Europe (with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy), North America (with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Yuri Temirkanov) and Asia.
Nikolai Lugansky regularly appears at some of the world's most distinguished festivals, such as La Roque d'Anthéron, Verbier, Gstaad, Baden Baden, Salzburg, and the Kissinger Sommerfest. In summer 2010 he returned to the BBC Proms with the Russian National Orchestra, and later in the season will perform with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Kirill Petrenko and with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons.
An acclaimed recording artist, Nikolai Lugansky won the Diapason d'Or for his Erato & Warner Classics recordings of the complete Chopin Etudes and Preludes and the Rachmaninov Preludes and Moments musicaux, as well as an Echo Klassik prize for his 2005 recording of Rachmaninov's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3 with Sakari Oramo conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. [Please see the "WCJ Recommends" column for more details of these CDs.] His latest solo release is an all-Chopin recital for Onyx which The Guardian described as "unquestionably thrilling", and later in 2010 Deutsche Grammophon will release a disc of chamber music recorded together with Vadim Repin, with whom he has developed a long-lasting and fruitful musical partnership.