Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
Gulbenkian Orchestra / Nuno Coelho / Nikolai Lugansky
Performers
- Conductor
- Piano
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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.
Hannu Lintu is the Music Director of the Gulbenkian Orchestra since 2023.
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Nuno Coelho
Conductor
Portuguese conductor Nuno Coelho is Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias (OSPA), a position he has held since 2022. He has established an international reputation conducting leading orchestras across a broad repertoire, both in concert and opera.
Highlights of Coelho’s 2026/27 calendar include returns to Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic, Symphoniker Hamburg, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Gulbenkian Orchestra, alongside debuts with Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, and Tonkünstler-Orchester at Vienna’s Musikverein.
In Asturias, he completes his tenure as Chief Conductor, opening the season with Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé which culminates in performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Other projects in the season include a puppet theatre production of Stravinsky’s Petrushka and collaborations with leading soloists including Alban Gerhardt, Alina Ibragimova, Pablo Ferrández, Alena Baeva and Yulianna Avdeeva.
Recent engagements with orchestras have included Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquestra Sinfônica de São Paulo and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Coelho has established a strong presence in opera. His work with Gulbenkian includes a semi-staged Così fan tutte and José Saramago’s reimagining of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, projects that reflect his interest in connecting musical repertoire with wider cultural and literary perspectives. Other opera credits include La traviata, Cavalleria rusticana, Rusalka and Manon, as well as Lemi Ponifasio’s staging of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Britten Sinfonia at the Barbican Centre. In December 2026 he returns to Ópera de Oviedo for Puccini’s Manon Lescaut.
Passionate about supporting the next generation of musicians, Coelho is Founder and Artistic Director of the Mondego International Music Academy (MIMA) which brings established artists together to mentor young composers, conductors and instrumentalists. He has also conducted Spain’s National Youth Orchestra (JONDE) on tour, including performances at Konzerthaus Berlin and the Rheingau Musik Festival, and in summer 2026 he conducted the Netherlands Youth Orchestra at the Concertgebouw.
Coelho won First Prize at the 2017 Cadaqués International Conducting Competition and was a Los Angeles Philharmonic Dudamel Fellow in 2018/19. His early career included two summers as a Tanglewood Conducting Fellow, two years as Assistant Conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Neeme Järvi Prize at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, and he was also a member of the German Music Council’s Dirigentenforum.
Born in Porto and trained as a violinist, Coelho studied conducting at the Zürich University of the Arts with Johannes Schlaefli. Beyond music, he has a particular interest in literature and tennis.
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Nikolai Lugansky
Piano
Pianist Nikolai Lugansky is renowned for his interpretations of Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Chopin and Debussy. He has received numerous awards for recordings and artistic merit.
He collaborates regularly with conductors of the calibre of K. Nagano, Y. Temirkanov, M. Honeck, G. Noseda, S. Kochanovsky, V. Petrenko, L. Shani and he is invited by leading international orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Orquestra Nacional de España.
Described by Gramophone as “the most trailblazing and meteoric performer of all”, Nikolai Lugansky is a pianist of extraordinary depth and versatility. He is invited by 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.
In 2023, he celebrated the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninov's birth by performing cycles of monographic programs at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and the Wigmore Hall in London, along with other performances throughout Europe, including at the Konzerthaus in Vienna and Berlin, the Bozar in Brussels, the Rudolfinum in Prague and the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
“Lugansky's mastery of the piano is outstanding: over the years, his sonority has broadened and become denser, his palette of sounds even more diverse as his stature as a musician has asserted itself. […] He is in the moment and in the projection of that moment into the greater whole of a work that he makes accessible: he hears everything and lets us hear it without explaining it, letting the music happen without interfering.” (Bachtrack).
This past season's highlights included orchestras such as the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo (Dutoit), the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (Denève), the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover (Kochanovsky), the Brussels Philharmonic (Ono), the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (Peltokovsky), the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchester (Valčuha), the Philharmonia London (Rouvali), the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (Alsop) and recitals at the Teatro alla Scala, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Wiener Konzerthaus, Wigmore Hall, Seoul Arts Center, Zurich Tonhalle, Oxford Piano Festival, Piano à Lyon, among many others.
Highlights of the 2025/26 season include collaborations with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (Rhorer), the Orchestre National de Lille for the Ravel anniversary (Weilerstein), the Oslo Philharmonic (Stutzmann), the Bern Sinfonieorchester (Petrenko), the Basque National Orchestra (Valčuha), the Berlin DSO (Denève), and the NDR ElbPhilharmonie Hamburg (Kochanovsky). The season also features tours around the world, including with La Filarmonica della Scala (Chung) in Korea, with the Lucerne Symphony (Sanderling) in Italy and a recital tour in China and Italy.
Among recital and festival appearances are engagements at the Tsinandali Festival (Noseda), the Esprit du Piano in Bordeaux, the Boulez Saal in Berlin, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, the Wigmore Hall, and the Verbier Festival.
Lugansky is Harmonia Mundi's exclusive artist. His latest album dedicated to Robert Schumann was released in February 2026; the recording “Richard Wagner” was Editor's Choice for May 2024, included in The Best Classical Albums of the Year by Gramophone and won the Premio Abbiati del Disco 2024 for solo repertoire. His album “Rachmaninov: Études-Tableaux; 3 Pièces”, was awarded with Choc de l'Année 2023 (Classica) and Gramophone Editor's Choice (March 2023). His “Rachmaninov: 24 Preludes” (2018) received rave reviews, while “César Franck, Préludes, Fugues & Chorals” CD (2020) won the Diapason d'Or.
Among the other awards for his many previous recordings: Diapason d’Or (Rachmaninov's Piano Sonatas) and Gramophone Editor’s Choice (Grieg and Prokofiev with Kent Nagano and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin).
Programme
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto No. 2, in C minor, op. 18
– Moderato
– Adagio sostenuto
– Allegro scherzando
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