| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 15-Mar-2013 Usher Hall | RSNO: Lugansky plays Prokofiev in an all-Russian programme conducted by Mikhail Tatarnikov |
 Who knew glaciers were so musical? Arensky Glacier, named for the composer of this all-Russian programme’s opener, flows south from Beethoven Peninsula into the north end of the Antartic’s Boccherini Inlet. There is nothing chilly, however, about the 1894 Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky by Anton Arensky (1861–1906). The teacher of Scriabin and Rachmaninov, Arensky drew his theme from “Legend”, the fifth of Tchaikovsky’s 1883 Sixteen Songs for Children, Op. 54, finding sufficient inspiration there for seven variations.
Read full review... | |
| 17-Aug-2012 Queen's Hall, Edinburgh | Kavakos and Lugansky deliver 20th century rarities by Janàček and Respighi |
 One of the delights of instrumental recitals is their unpredictability. There is an element of challenge that all types have in common, however. How do you achieve the levels of excitement that retain the audience's attention with merely one or two performers on stage?
Read full review... | |
| 9-Mar-2012 Dr Anton Philipszaal | An upbeat Russian program from the Residentie Orkest |
 Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is an incredibly popular work – and with good reason. Tonight, this exciting piece was combined with works by two other Russian greats: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture and Tchaikovksy’s Piano Concerto no. 1, played by Nikolai Lugansky.
Read full review... | |
| 7-Oct-2011 Usher Hall | Distant Landscapes |
 "A composer's music should express the country of his birth.." (Rachmaninov)
Had Debussy adhered to his programme partner’s dictum, he might have struggled to write Images (1905-1912). This orchestral trilogy passes through England, Spain and France - or should that be England, France and Spain? In his conversationally informative remarks to a capacity audience at the concert's opening, RSNO conductor, Stéphane Denève, described how he had always felt uneasy with the former, more accepted order. He gave two reasons for this: he thought the geography of the trip to make more sense finishing in Spain; he also considered Ibéria (Spain) a better finisher. Then, while reading the composer's letters during the summer, he discovered that Debussy had conceived of the more ergonomic, south-bound order. And so it was that he announced the order of the movements as Gigues, Rondes de printemps and Ibéria - this final one a triptych within the triptych.
Read full review... | |
