Nikolai Demidenko (born 1 July 1955, Anisimovo) is a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n-born classical pianist.

Biography

Demidenko studied at the

Gnessin State Musical College The Gnessin State Musical College (russian: link=no, Государственный музыкальный колледж имени Гнесиных) and Gnesins Russian Academy of Music (russian: Российская академия музык� ...

with Anna Kantor and at the

Moscow Conservatoire The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

under

Dmitri Bashkirov Dmitri Aleksandrovich Bashkirov (russian: Дми́трий Алекса́ндрович Башки́ров; November 1, 1931 – March 7, 2021) was a Russian pianist and academic teacher. Trained in his hometown Tbilisi and Moscow, he began an in ...

. He was a finalist at the 1976 Montreal International Piano Competition and the 1978

Tchaikovsky International Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

. He taught at the

Yehudi Menuhin School The Yehudi Menuhin School is a Specialist school, specialist music school in Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey, England, founded in 1963 by violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin. The current director of music is the British classical pianist Ashley Wass. ...

in the UK, where he has been a resident since 1990. He was granted British citizenship in 1995 and currently holds a visiting professorship at the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institut ...

. In addition to a vast amount of the standard Germanic and Russian repertory, he is a specialist of

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

and a noted champion of the works of neglected composers such as

Muzio Clementi Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly active in England. Encourag ...

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...

Jan Václav Voříšek Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek (; ''Johann Hugo Worzischek'', 11 May 1791, in Vamberk, Bohemia – 19 November 1825, in Vienna, Austria) was a Czech composer, pianist, and organist. Life Voříšek was born in the town of Vamberk, Bohemia, where h ...

, and

Nikolai Medtner Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (russian: Никола́й Ка́рлович Ме́тнер, ''Nikoláj Kárlovič Métner''; 13 November 1951) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. After a period of comparative obscurity in the 25 years immedi ...

, as well as neglected works of well-known composers such as

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

, and

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

, and transcriptions by

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

. Demidenko won a

Gramophone Award The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and refer ...

in 1992 in the concerto category for his recording of the Medtner Piano Concertos No. 2 and 3.

Career

In 2000, in connection with the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, Nikolai Demidenko was one of four pianists invited to perform Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, subsequently released on DVD b
EuroArts.
Demidenko´s extensive discography consists of nearly 40 CDs. Fo
Hyperion Records
he has recorded over 20 albums, including most recently Prokofiev Piano Concertos nos 2 & 3 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra released in March 2015, Gramophone Editor´s Choice award-winning album of Medtner and Music for two Pianos (with

Dmitri Alexeev Dmitri Alexeev (russian: Дмитрий Константинович Алексеев, ''Dmitrij Konstantinovič Alekseev'', born 10 August 1947 in Moscow) is a Russian pianist. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory, and additionally under Dmitr ...

). For the Munich-based AGPL label he has recorded Beethoven’s ''Hammerklavier'' Sonata, a collection of Scarlatti sonatas and a Chopin CD which won the Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik Preis. Autumn 2008 saw the release of a new Chopin CD, including his first recording of the 24 Preludes, fo
Onyx Classics
This CD won the MIDEM 2010 Special Chopin Award for a new recording, a unique occasion edited especially for a Bicentenary of Chopin. Demidenko was one of the pianists invited to perform Chopin Piano Concerto in E minor Op. 11 concert during the celebration of Bicentenary of Chopin organized b
The Fryderyk Chopin Institute
in Warsaw. This concert was released on DVD b
Music Accentus Music
In 2014 he was awarded an honorary doctorate fro
the University of Surrey
in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the field of Music and the University.

References

Russian classical pianists Male classical pianists Soviet classical pianists 20th-century classical pianists British classical pianists Academics of the University of Surrey Moscow Conservatory alumni Gnessin State Musical College alumni Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Soviet emigrants to the United Kingdom 1955 births Living people 21st-century classical pianists 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians {{Russia-classical-pianist-stub