Nikolai Lugansky

[quasimodo]

Discuss!

He sounds so perfect. Maybe a little bit "artificial" ?

[jre58591]

his rach concertos and la roque d'anthéron recital are awesome to see/hear. his interpretations and technique are almsot flawless. he is definitely one of the best of our generation.

[cloches_de_geneve]

His chopin etudes are pretty amazing, he prefers a "leggiero" touch to most of them, the way reportedly chopin used to play them. op 10/2 is incredible, 10/11 just floats on air, I've never heard it played so well. In spite of these technical wonders, you sort of feel that he is not the virtuoso-kind of pianist, but one who thinks intelligently, perhaps even obsessively, about what he is doing in terms of sound, balance, tempo. From there comes possibly the impression of a certain "artificiality".

I concur that he is clearly one of the best of the current 30-45 year olds

[sissco]

He is one of my favourite pianists. He plays Rachmaninoff like nobody else and I really love all his videos and recordings 

[richy321]

His Chopin Etudes are for me the reference recording.  They are a virtual handbook of the subtle variations in touch Chopin called for in many of the etudes but which in most performances goes unacknowledged.  In some expressive gestures, such as rubato he is less persuasive than others, such as Perahia.  Perhaps that is what some mean by sounding "artificial".

[bella musica]

I saw him in concert a year or so ago.  He was really good, I enjoyed the concert a lot.  I thought some of his gestures were a bit theatrical though.

[quasimodo]

I thought some of his gestures were a bit theatrical though.

Huh huh!

[bella musica]

Huh huh!

What's that supposed to mean?  Do you agree or are you LAUGHING AT ME?!?!?!? 

[quasimodo]

What's that supposed to mean?  Do you agree or are you LAUGHING AT ME?!?!?!? 

I agree, I saw a video of him, he has the "ceiling syndrom" lol. However I agree with most comments here: he's one of the VERY top pianists of the generation.

[pies]

I like his Gotterdammerung transcription.

[jlh]

Haven't heard his Chopin Etudes, but his Rachmaninoff Etudes are amazing!

[quasimodo]

Haven't heard his Chopin Etudes, but his Rachmaninoff Etudes are amazing!

He's kind of a technical reference for Rachmaninov IMO. I also have his preludes op. 23 (including an INCREDIBLE rendition of N.9) and Moments Musicaux. His playing is so neat that it sometimes gives an impression of coldness.