Repin and Lugansky

From Crescendo, April-May 2003
Written by Noėl Godts
Translated from the original French by Valour


Recital at The Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles,

20 November 2002, 20:00

Nikolai Lugansky (piano)  and Vadim Repin (violin)
Schumann Sonata for  violin and piano n° l, op. 105 ,
Prokofiev Sonata for violin and piano n° l, op. 80,
Schonberg Fantasy for violin and piano, op. 47,
Schubert Fantasy pour violin and piano, D 934


The exceptional association of the two Russian wonders Nikolaļ Lugansky and Vadim Repin will remain an unforgettable memory in the ears of the music lovers of Brussels, subjugated by the charisma and the exuberance of these different but complementary artists. Anyway, this first meeting of both comrades in a large concert hall should not remain without sequel as they both have the firm intention to make room in their very full diaries for other confrontations... But as it happens, Vadim Repin invited Nikolaļ Lugansky for this first concert - part of a trilogy that the Philharmonic Company proposed to him within the framework of a residence at the Palais des Beaux Arts of Brussels. The programme that the two artists wanted was very eclectic, offered with diversity and intensity: pages of Schumann, Prokofiev, Schonberg and Schubert. From these, one will retain, among so many fairy-like moments, the splendid Viennese Schonberg-Schubert transition in the second part which left the applause of  the stunned listeners suspended until the end of the recital. Ardour, passion, luminosity, interiority and pleasure of the moment are the keywords of this Russian duo who sometimes make us think of the Oistrakh-Richter tandem, celebrated for the intransigence of their respective temperaments. The salvo of applause nourished by the exquisite charms of three encores completed this intense and varied evening.


Repin and Lugansky