Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2
Gulbenkian Orchestra
Event Slider
Date
- / Cancelled / Sold out
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationPricing
- 20,00 € – 36,00 €
25% – Under 30
10% – Over 65
Cartão Gulbenkian:
50% – Under 30
15% – Over 65
- Conductor
- Piano
-
Gulbenkian Orchestra
In 1962, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation decided to establish a permanent orchestral ensemble. Originally with only twelve musicians (strings and continuo) it was named “Orquestra de Câmara Gulbenkian”. This collective was successively enlarged and today the “Orquestra Gulbenkian” (the name it has adopted since 1971) has a permanent body of sixty instrumentalists, a number that can be expanded depending on the repertoire.
This structure allows the Gulbenkian Orchestra to interpret works from the Baroque and Classical periods, a significant part of 19th century orchestral literature and much of the music of the 20th century, including works belonging to the current repertoire of the traditional symphonic orchestras. In each season, the orchestra performs on a regular series of concerts at the Gulbenkian Grand Auditorium in Lisbon, where it has had the opportunity of working together with some of leading names of the world of music (conductors and soloists). It has also performed on numerous locations all over Portugal, in an effort to decentralize music and culture.
The orchestra has been constantly expanding its activities in the international level, performing in Europe, Asia Africa, and the Americas. In the recording field, Orquestra Gulbenkian is associated to labels as Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Hyperion, Teldec, Erato, Adès, Nimbus, Lyrinx, Naïve and Pentatone, among others, and this activity was recognized with several international prizes.
-
Nuno Coelho
Guest Conductor
The 2022/23 season sees Nuno Coelho commence his Chief Conductor and Artistic Directorship of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias. He also begins his fifth year as Guest Conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra with a production of José Saramago’s reimagining of Mozart’s Don Giovanni to mark the writer’s centenary. Highlights elsewhere include debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic and Sinfonieorchester St Gallen; returns to Antwerp Symphony and Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife; and a tour with the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España.
Last season saw Nuno debut with the Helsinki Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonie, Staatsorchester Hannover, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Gavle Symphony, Malmö Symphony, Residentie Orkest, Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg and Orchestre National de Lille; and continue his relationships with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia and Orquestra Simfónica de Barcelona. In March 2022 he conducted a semi-staged Così fan tutte at the Gulbenkian, adding to theatre credits which include productions of La traviata, Cavalleria rusticana, Rusalka, Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank and Seven Deadly Sins.
Nuno won First Prize at the 2017 Cadaqués International Conducting Competition and has since gone on to conduct the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Symphoniker Hamburg, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Noord Nederlands Orkest and Orchestra Teatro Regio Torino. He was a Los Angeles Philharmonic Dudamel Fellow between 2018-19 and stepped in for Bernard Haitink that same season to make his debut with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.
Born in Porto, Nuno studied conducting at the Zürich University of the Arts with Johannes Schlaefli and won the Neeme Järvi Prize at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival. In 2015 he was admitted into the German Music Council’s Dirigentenforum and for the following two years he was both a Tanglewood Conducting Fellow and Assistant Conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic. Literature and tennis occupy his time off-podium.
-
Nikolai Lugansky
Piano
Nikolai Lugansky is a pianist who combines elegance and grace with powerful virtuosity, a true incarnation of the Russian tradition on the international classical stage. Recognised as a master of Russian and late romantic repertoire, Lugansky is renowned for his interpretations of Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Chopin and Debussy. He has received numerous awards for recordings and artistic merit.
He regularly works with top level conductors such as Yuri Temirkanov, Kent Nagano, Charles Dutoit, Mikhail Pletnev, Gianandrea Noseda and Vladimir Jurowski. Concerto highlights for the 2019/20 season include performances with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra in London, National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C., Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Belgium National Orchestra, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.
A regular recitalist the world over, during this season Lugansky appears at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wiener Konzerthaus, Tonhalle in Zurich, Moscow’s Zaryadye, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, and Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. Lugansky also performs a series of American recitals, including a performance in Chicago, and gives recitals in Florence and Rome as well as numerous performances in Russia. Lugansky regularly performs at the La Roque-d'Anthéron Festival in France, with the last season marking the 23rd consecutive year of appearance.
In June 2019 Nikolai Lugansky received the Russian Federation National Award in Literature and Art, for his contribution to the development and advancement of Russian and international classical music culture over the past 20 years. Lugansky was awarded the honour of People’s Artist of Russia in April 2013, which is the highest honorary title for outstanding achievement in the arts.
In addition to performing, Lugansky has been a professor at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory since 1998. He is also the Artistic Director of the Tambov Rachmaninov Festival and is a supporter of, and regular performer at, the Rachmaninov Estate and Museum of Ivanovka.
Described by Gramophone as “the most trailblazing and meteoric performer of all” Nikolai Lugansky is a pianist of extraordinary depth and versatility. He regularly appears at some of the world's most distinguished festivals, including the Aspen, Tanglewood, Ravinia and Verbier festivals. Chamber music collaborators include Vadim Repin, Alexander Kniazev, Mischa Maisky and Leonidas Kavakos.
Nikolai Lugansky has won several awards for his many recordings. His recital CD featuring Rachmaninov's Piano Sonatas won the Diapason d’Or, whilst his recording of concertos by Grieg and Prokofiev with Kent Nagano and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin was a Gramophone Editor’s Choice. Lugansky has an exclusive contract with harmonia mundi and his recent disc of Rachmaninov’s 24 Preludes, released in April 2018, met with enthusiastic reviews. He was described as having “an ability to enchant the ear… with a deep feeling for the music” (The Financial Times). His recording of solo piano music by Debussy was released in the 2018 anniversary year.
Sergei Rachmaninov
Piano Concerto No. 2, in C minor, op. 18
— Intermission 20 min —
Richard Strauss
Also sprach Zarathustra, op. 30
Passionate and intense musician, Nikolai Lugansky returns to Gulbenkian Música to perform the challenging Rachmaninov Concerto No. 2. In the second part, in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Richard Strauss relates to the idea of the “superman”, developed by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, as the culmination of human evolution. The majesty of Strauss’ musical creation, materialised in a symphonic poem, would be popularised by Stanley Kubrick’s cinema when he chose the music to accompany the opening of his masterpiece 2001: Space Odyssey.
Sponsor Gulbenkian Music
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation reserves the right to collect and keep records of images, sounds and voice for the diffusion and preservation of the memory of its cultural and artistic activity. For further information, please contact us through the Information Request form.