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Artsfile: Nicolas Namoradze - Sound Explorer

Artsfile
Peter Robb

Nicolas Namoradze thinks deeply about his chosen career as a piano soloist and a composer.

Before he entered the 2018 Honens competition, he had spent some four years giving himself time to prepare for the spotlight. When he won, he says he was ready to step onto wider stages including in Ottawa. Namoradze will perform here on March 5 at Southminster Church, part of Roland Graham’s Master Piano Recital Series.

He told ARTSFILE from Berlin, Germany, that he had done competitions as a teenager in Europe and had enjoyed the experience, “but I felt that I wanted to give myself more time before putting myself out in the limelight. I felt I needed more time to expand my repertoire and to find out who I am as an artist. This meant finding what I wanted to play and how to play it before stepping out into the fray.”

This hiatus, for sake of a better word, meant he stepped away from active concertizing and from competing. It afforded an important space. “That’s when I started composing seriously again.”

To read more about Namoradze’s journey, click here.

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WQXR Presents "20 For 20": Nicolas Namoradze Named an Artist To Watch

Today, WQXR proudly introduces their “20 for 20,” including pianist Nicolas Namoradze. From Afghanistan to Iceland, via South Korea, Bulgaria, and our very own New York City, these are 20 singers, instrumentalists, ensembles, and conductors who are redefining what classical music can be, and doing so in diverse and thrilling ways.

WQXR
Clemency Burton-Hill

Today, we are proud to introduce you to our “20 for 20.” From Afghanistan to Iceland, via South Korea, Bulgaria, and our very own New York City, these are 20 singers, instrumentalists, ensembles, and conductors who are redefining what classical music can be, and doing so in diverse and thrilling ways.

Nicolas Namoradze

2018 was a breakthrough year for the dazzling 27-year-old pianist, starting with all the attention he received after winning the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition. That’s a fine credit, and it pairs well with an Emmanuel Ax cosign, who said of Namoradze that he’s “Set to become one of the truly important artists of his generation.”

To read more, and to see WQXR’s complete list, click here.

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The Star: Honens Piano Festival Makes a Splash in Calgary

The Star
William Littler

William Littler of The Star calls the 2019 Honens Piano Festival “…a four-day celebration of the perennially popular keyboard instrument.” To read his glowing reviews of all pianists involved, click here.

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Calgary Herald: Honens Festival 2019 – Nicolas Namoradze dazzles on piano

Hot on the heels of the week-long Banff International String Quartet Competition comes the Honens Festival 2019, the September festival of piano-related events that takes place in the years between competitions. As is frequently the case, one of the main events is a solo concert by the winner of the previous competition, in this instance pianist Nicolas Namoradze, now a resident of the New York area.

Calgary Herald
Kenneth Delong

Fundamentally, however, Namoradze wears his enormous technique lightly. He sits quietly, with mostly just his fingers in evidence. His playing is effortless to a degree that can hardly be imagined, and the focus of his performance is entirely upon musical values. And here the range of his imagination in the shaping of line, control of texture, and fleetness in execution takes one’s breath away.

Gramophone: One to Watch – Nicolas Namoradze

The Georgian pianist Nicolas Namoradze, the winner of the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, has already impressed pianists of rare knowledge and experience. Like the two Honens winners before him (Pavel Kolesnikov in 2012 and Luca Buratto in 2015), Namoradze will make his debut recording for Hyperion.

Gramophone

Read more in the June issue of Gramophone available here.

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New York Classical Review: Namoradze Explores the Shadows, Deep and Dark, in Impressive New York Debut

Nicolas Namoradze is a pianist with a lot to say. And he likes to say it softly.

The top-prize winner of the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, Alberta, made an impressive New York recital debut Sunday night at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall with an unconventional program of (in this order) Scriabin, Bach, Schumann, and his own compositions.

New York Classical Review
David Wright

Nicolas Namoradze is a pianist with a lot to say. And he likes to say it softly.

Like all recital programs, this one offered plenty of opportunities to play loud, and the 26-year-old native of the Republic of Georgia rose to them handsomely, without ever losing his cool demeanor on the piano bench.

But the moments that linger long in the memory are the pianissimos. Long stretches of pianissimo, layered, multicolored, deep in thought or swirling like a spring breeze. Pianissimos dense with possibility, and pianissimos that just are.

Blogcritics: Pianist-Composer and Honens Winner Nicolas Namoradze on His Carnegie Hall Debut

Fresh off winning Canada’s 2018 Honens International Piano Competition, New York-based pianist and composer Nicolas Namoradze will be making his Carnegie Hall debut Feb 10. Concerts at London’s Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, and other international venues are also upcoming, along with recordings on the Honens and Hyperion labels.

Blogcritics
Jon Sobel

The Honens prize, a triennial award considered one of the classical music world’s most prestigious, includes a robust artist development program as well as prize money. Namoradze emerged victorious from a field of 50 quarterfinalists.

He was kind enough to speak with us about his background, musicianship, and composing.

You were born in Georgia (the country) but grew up in Budapest. You’ve said Hungarian composers have influenced you, and so has Georgian folk music. How so?

My interest in Georgian folk music was, interestingly enough, partly a result of my time at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, where ethnomusicology was a mandatory subject: studying the relationship between Bartók and Hungarian folk music made me look at Georgian folk music in a different light, and later on it began influencing my own compositional style. As for Hungarian composers, perhaps Ligeti has had the greatest impact — I’m fascinated by his oeuvre, so much so that my doctoral dissertation is about his late piano etudes!

International Piano: Nicolas Namoradze wins 2018 Honens Competition

Georgian pianist Nicolas Namoradze, 26, has won the top prize of $100,000 (CAD) at the 2018 Honens international piano competition.

International Piano
Lucy Thraves

Georgian pianist Nicolas Namoradze, 26, has won the top prize of $100,000 (CAD) at the 2018 Honens international piano competition.

Following his Honens win, Namoradze will have the opportunity to perform in some of the world’s leading concert houses with major orchestras. He will also have access to professional management and recording opportunities.