'The Essence of Russian Pianism'... Nikolai Lugansky's Visit to Korea Concert

13th and 15th, Lotte Concert Hall, Songpa-gu, Seoul

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninoff's birth, the KBS Symphony Orchestra will hold the second concert of the '2023 Masters Series' with Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky.

Nikolai Lugansky.
[Photo by KBS Symphony Orchestra]

According to the KBS Symphony Orchestra on the 1st, this concert will be held over two days on December 13 and 15. Lugansky will showcase the essence of Russian pianism through Rachmaninoff's four piano concertos and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The conductor will be Stanislav Kochanovsky, a Russian native star.

On the 13th, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos No. 1 and 2 and the 'Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini' will be performed, and on the 15th, Concertos No. 3 and 4 will be played. With this complete performance of Rachmaninoff's piano concertos, Lugansky is expected to further solidify his title as a 'Rachmaninoff specialist.'

Nikolai Lugansky gained recognition in the classical music world by winning second prize (with no first prize awarded) at the 1994 Tchaikovsky International Competition. He is regarded as a top performer of Russian repertoire including Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev. He has collaborated with the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Currently, he is a professor at his alma mater, the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory.

Launched last year, the KBS Symphony Orchestra's 'Masters Series' attracted great attention with its fresh concept of inviting four 'masters' such as Maxim Vengerov (violin) and Andreas Ottensamer (conductor and clarinet) to present two concertos on one stage. This year, the series will feature a total of three concerts with Marek Janowski and Nikolai Lugansky.