Grote Pianisten: Nikolai Lugansky speelt Chopin en Schumann

Nikolai Lugansky

'…Lugansky is not only the most fantastic Russian pianist of our time, he is also one of the most prominent artists of our era…', writes Le Monde . When something like that is said about you, you have a standard to uphold. Nikolai Lugansky manages this effortlessly. The Moscow-born pianist prefers playing the great Romantic repertoire: Rachmaninoff, Schubert, and, as tonight, Chopin and Schumann. He has been a guest at the Concertgebouw on several occasions. 'How I played music last week can be very different from ten years ago,' he said in an interview. 'Music is a process that you cannot control.'

Chopin and Schumann

In both Schumann's Fantasia, Op. 17 and Chopin's 24 Preludes, Op. 28, a woman played an inspiring role. Chopin completed his Preludes in 1838 in Mallorca, where he stayed with his muse George Sand and her children. Two years earlier, Schumann subtly incorporated Beethoven's song An die ferne Geliebte into his Fantasia as a declaration of love to Clara Wieck. Yet the significance of these works extends far beyond their Romantic origins. They breathe poetic freedom and open worlds of boundless emotion. The form betrays the influence of Bach and Beethoven, Chopin's rich timbres resonate in Debussy and Ravel, and we recognize Schumann's poetic sound later in Brahms and Liszt. At the end of the 1830s, music of the future was being written. Nikolai Lugansky recently recorded the Fantasia , a recording that was received with acclaim. 'There is magic in his playing' and 'with this recording of the Fantasia , Lugansky sets a new standard'. Hear it for yourself tonight in the Main Hall!