Demidenko, Nikolai
Demidenko, Nikolai
Demidenko, Nikolai , Russian pianist; b. Aniskino, July 1, 1955. He was a pubil of Bashkirov at the Moscow Cons. After winning second prize at the Montreal competition in 1976 and third prize at the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow in 1978, he toured throughout his homeland as a soloist with orchs. and as a recitalist. In 1985 he made his British debut as soloist on tour with the Moscow Radio Sym. Orch.; subsequently returned to appear as soloist with the principal British orchs. In 1990 he settled in England and became a teacher at the Yehudi Menuhin School. In 1992 he made his first appearance at the London Promenade Concerts as soloist in Rachmaninoff’s fourth Piano Concerto. In 1993 he won critical acclaim for a series of 6 recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall in which he surveyed the piano repertoire from the standard literature to contemporary WORKS with virtuosic aplomb and interpretative insight.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire