Ludwig van: Nicolas Namoradze: ‘Life Is Full Of Surprises’
Ludwig van
Holly Harris
Spend an hour chatting with the brilliant musician Nicolas Namoradze, and it’s abundantly clear this is not your typical pianist.
“Life is full of surprises,” Nicolas Namoradze a.k.a. “Nico” says of his impressive win of the top prize at the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition. The triennial Calgary-based competition has helped launch international performance and recording careers for a galaxy of classical music stars.
After taking the bold move of stepping out of the limelight for four years before entering the competition, the then 26-year-old pianist dazzled with virtuosic technique, matched by unconventional repertoire. His program included a lengthier choice of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B♭ major, Op. 83 for the finals, and his own Etudes he described as “fearsomely challenging”.
“You can get into trouble with things like that,” Namoradze states calmly of his program choices. “I made decisions that went against the grain because I knew that this wasn’t the kind of competition where I should be thinking about competition strategy. Brahms 2 was simply my favourite concerto, and I love playing it.”
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