"God was looking for a trumpet player. He chose Sergei Nakariakov." Jean-Jacques Roth, Montreux 1993
At the age of 23, Sergei Nakariakov has already broken through more than a few of the perceived boundaries framing the world of the trumpet in classical music. Dubbed "The Paganini of the trumpet" by the Finnish press after a performance at the Korsholm Festival when he was only 12 years old, Sergei has developed a unique musical voice, which is much more than a vehicle for astonishing virtuosity. His repertoire includes not only the entire range of original literature for the trumpet; but is continually expanding into broader territories, including many fascinating transcriptions.
At the same time, he has single-handedly brought the flügelhorn to prominence on the concert platform. His recent CD for Teldec Classics – with whom he has recorded exclusively since he was 15 years old – is appropriately entitled No Limit; and includes performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra under the direction of Vladimir Ashkenazy, of an extraordinary range of transcriptions of characteristically romantic pieces by Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Bruch, Massenet and Gershwin.
Born in Gorky in 1977, Sergei began to play the piano when he was very small; but moved on to the trumpet after a spinal injury in 1986 curtailed his piano studies. He pays tribute to the technical and musical gifts he has learned from his father, Mikhail Nakariakov, with whom he has studied ever since.
In 1991 he enjoyed great success at the Ivo Pogorelich Festival in Bad Wörishofen. In August of the same year he made his debut together with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra at the Salzburg Festival and one year later Sergei was a guest at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival where he was awarded the Prix Davidoff. Since then he has appeared in many of the worlds’ leading centres of music, including the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, the Lincoln Center in New York, the Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall in London. He has performed in most European countries, including festivals such as Colmar, Menton, Salzburg, Montreux, Lucerne, Strasbourg and Cannes. He tours for several weeks each year in Japan and is becoming an increasingly frequent guest soloist in North America and Canada.
He has already collaborated with some of the world's most feted musicians, including Evgeny Kissin, Tatyana Nikolaieva and Martha Argerich, each in acclaimed performances of the Shostakovich Piano Concerto and with conductors including Kent Nagano, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Spivakov, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Emmanuel Krevine, Jesus Lopez-Cobos to name only a few. His international touring schedule includes performances in the foremost concert series all over the world, both with orchestra and in recital – regularly accompanied by his sister Vera Nakariakova.
His discography with Teldec Classics has drawn the most enthusiastic public and critical acclaim; and incorporates the most famous trumpet concertos as well as two recital albums of virtuoso music for trumpet by Bizet, Paganini, Falla, Gershwin and Rimsky-Korsakov. His Elégie recording, with pianist Vera Nakariakova, includes a selection of famous romantic works for voice and piano transcribed for trumpet and piano. Concertos for Trumpet features transcriptions for trumpet and flügelhorn of string concertos by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Hoffmeister, which Sergei Nakariakov performs with the Württembergisches Kammerorchester and Jörg Faerber. The French magazine Répertoire gave it the highest classification "R10 - Coup de foudre", and No Limit has already been awarded the RTL d'Or.
SERGEI NAKARIAKOV plays on instruments by ANTOINE CURTOIS PARIS.