Nikolai Lugansky reviews
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Opp 101, 109 & 111
Franck: Préludes, Fugues & Chorals
Debussy: Suite bergamasque; L’isle joyeuse; Arabesques; La plus que lente; Estampes; Images pour piano – Book 2; Hommage à Haydn
Nikolai Lugansky plays Schubert
Nikolai Lugansky recital
There are those who find Nikolai Lugansky’s interpretations remote and even soulless.
I’ve never been one of them and now, being able to watch Lugansky in action at close quarters, it’s good to confirm that he’s simply keeping emotion under tight control – glancing heavenwards for the deepest inspirations, as if to conjure more vertical space of his playing, sitting upright at the piano and never lathering unduly (though he does break a sweat in the summer environs of Verbier).
La Roque D'anthéron: Les Pianos de la Nuit, Nikolai Lugansky
Of nearly 90 pianists who took part in the 2002 La Roque d’Anthéron International Piano Festival in Provence, eight gave short recitals (from one hour to 90 minutes) filmed live in partnership with Idéale Audience International. Later the films were shown theatrically, and are now brought out by Naïve as individual DVD releases.
In the hands of Nikolai Lugansky, Brahms’s Op. 118 piano pieces range from unduly rounded-off and languorous (the first and last, for example) to supple dialogues of light and shade (No. 4 in F minor).