Nikolai Lugansky, piano
Nikolai Lugansky, piano
Sunday, February 9, 2025 / 2:00 p.m.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
“The pianist of the overwhelming sensitivity, who puts forward not himself, but the music.” – Daily Telegraph
Praised as “one of the most outstanding artists of our epoch” (Le Monde), Nikolai Lugansky is a pianist of extraordinary depth and versatility. Regularly appearing with major orchestras across the globe, this is a special opportunity to experience Lugansky’s divine interpretations in the intimate Terrace Theater – his first return to Washington Performing Arts since his 1996 Hayes Piano Series debut. Often celebrated for the deftness by which he approaches Rachmaninov’s cannon, Lugansky offers an unconventionally special program rooted in the Romantic music of Mendelssohn and Wagner. Hear the rolling melodies of Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words, written while and influenced by the composers tour of Italy, Switzerland, and Germany; plus Wagner’s Brünnhilde and Siegfried’s love duet, Siegfried’s Rhine Journey, and Lugansky’s own transcription of Wagner’s 4 Scenes from Götterdämmerung.
This performance is an external rental presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center Campus Rentals Office and is not produced by the Kennedy Center.
Program Details
Felix Mendelssohn – Selections from Songs without Words
Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 17 “Tempest”
Richard Wagner arr. Nikolai Lugansky – Selections from Götterdämmerung
Richard Wagner arr. Franz Liszt – Isolde’s Liebestod from Tristan und Isold
About the Artist
The pianist Nikolai Lugansky is renowned for his interpretations of Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Chopin and Debussy. He has received numerous awards for recordings and artistic merit. Described by Gramophone as “the most trailblazing and meteoric performer of all,” he is a pianist of extraordinary depth and versatility.
In 2023, he celebrated the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninov’s birth by performing all of the Russian composer major solo works in a three-concert cycle at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and the Wigmore Hall in London, along with other individual performances throughout Europe. In the summer he returned to the US to perform Rachmaninov concertos with the Cleveland Orchestra with Stanislav Kochanovsky and at the Colorado Music Festival with Peter Oundjian.
Lugansky has an exclusive contract with Harmonia Mundi. His recordings have received several awards including the Diapason d’Or, Choc de l’Année, and Gramophone Editor’s Choice. His latest recording “Richard Wagner” was released in March 2024.
Our Partners
This event is made possible through the generous support of Susan S. Angell.
Washington Performing Arts’s classical music performances this season are made possible in part through the generous support of Betsy and Robert Feinberg and the Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts.
Special thanks to the following lead supporters of Washington Performing Arts’s mission-driven work: Jacqueline Badger Mars and Mars, Incorporated; D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities; the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Program and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts; and The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation.
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