Nikolai Lugansky

“Lugansky's ability to pick out the melodic line, to nurture and shape it within a cloud of accompanying notes, was extraordinary… [His] encore, Medtner's Canzona Serenata, showed another, more wistful side to his playing, but still highlighted that amazing gift for sustaining a melody.” (Erica Jeal, The Guardian, April 2013)

“This is very exciting playing in two extremely taxing works… In the outer movements, Lugansky's playing suggests wild abandon but in fact derives from tremendously disciplined, focused attention to Rachmaninov's swathes of notes and pulverising rhythms. Lugansky produces plenty of fire and brimstone, but also creates a tender and refined sound in the slow movement… I rate this as the best recording of this work… his playing has a clarity and an utterly convincing sense of where every passage fits into the grand design. A really impressive disc.” (Calum MacDonald, BBC Music Magazine, January 2013)

“…it is hard not to be seduced by the playing of a natural Lisztian, as alive to textual detail as conveying a work’s drama and poetry... hear how artfully Lugansky paces the music and grades dynamics. He’s like a good story teller, revealing the plot and characters little by little so the listener can’t wait to hear what happens next" (Classic FM Magazine, February 2012)

“This is Liszt playing of enormous power and transcendental technical command. We are in the super-pianist league and old Liszt would surely have nodded his approval…the thunderous bass is clear and properly threatening. As a recital this is among the finest”. (Pianist Magazine, February-March 2012)

“You will not easily locate a more poetic view of three of [Liszt’s] Transcendental Etudes, luminous and delectably light-fingered in ‘Feux follets’, menacing in the sinister snowscape of ‘Chasse-neige’ and masterly in every fierce demand in No 10 in F minor...” (Gramophone, January 2012)

“He is not afraid to build his programme out of well known pieces, but the result is poetry of delicate virtuosity and powerful narrative. Whether he is evoking the hallucinogenic paintings of mysterious landscapes (in Chasse-neige and Feux follets), conjuring mystical Italy in Sposalizio, or singing La mort d’Isolde, Nikolai Lugansky has entered the inner circle of great Lisztians.” (Le Monde, October 2011)

"Hand on heart: have you ever heard anything more impressive than the performance of Rachmaninov’s colossal Third Piano Concerto played by Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky? No matter how many times you have heard it; no matter which recordings you possess; no matter your favourites, Rachmaninov’s own performance included; nothing I have heard in any version of this awesome concerto could eclipse the astounding performance on Saturday from Lugansky.

"Lugansky found all the passion and strong poetry in the piece, tempered it with his own elegance of delivery, and with mighty support from Stephane Deneve and an RSNO locked into the pianist’s psyche, produced a staggering account of the concerto...This was a performance in a million" (Herald Scotland, October 2011)

"Lugansky negotiates the coruscating technical chicanery of the Sonata [Rachmaninov Piano Sonata No. 2], yet it is the [Rachmaninov] Corelli Variations’ haunting nostalgia that really hits the emotional spot" (BBC Music Magazine, August 2011)

“The brilliant Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky recorded the complete Chopin études, dazzlingly, for his second album on Erato, released in 2000. Mr. Lugansky’s account is not just note perfect and incisive but also colorful and exciting.” (The New York Times, August 2011)