NIKOLAÏ LUGANSKY
A recital by Nikolai Lugansky is always a profound experience, marked by great sincerity and free of any superfluous effects. His deep respect for the score allows him to capture the composer’s intentions with absolute clarity. On the program: two monuments of Romantic piano music — Chopin’s 24 Preludes and Schumann’s passionate Humoreske.
Programme
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Impromptu No. 1 in A flat major Op. 29
Impromptu No. 2 in F-sharp major Op. 36
Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat major Op. 51
ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Humoreske in B-flat major Op. 20
Interval
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849)
24 Preludes Op. 28
Nikolaï Lugansky plays Chopin: 12 Études, Op. 10: No. 8 in F Major “Sunshine” at Verbier Festival
Chopin was not yet 30 when his Preludes Op. 28 propelled him into the musical elite of his time. Busoni, Mompou, Bill Evans and even Donna Summer have covered these works, which have become true standards of romantic piano music.
In contrast to the conciseness and thematic efficiency of the Preludes, the Impromptus are closer in aesthetic to wandering and improvisation. Aristocratic sophistication in the first, aquatic lulling in the second, refinement of minimalist counterpoint in the third: Nikolai Lugansky, whose understanding of the mysteries of this music reaches new heights, is the ideal interpreter of this repertoire.
Schumann’s immense Humoresque contains in its many facets an elusive image of Eusebius and Florestan, the two sides of the composer’s personality. Children’s rhymes, pompous fanfares, demonic perpetual movements and melodies on the borderline of dreams: a work between fantasy and reality, to be rediscovered with every listening.