Decca Classics and Universal Music Australia have jointly signed 23-year-old Russian pianist Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev, grandson of legendary 20th-century pianist Tatiana Nikolaeva. It is the first time the two labels have collaborated to sign an artist.

His debut album, ‘Moments Musicaux’, will be released in 2018. It will feature a programme of Russian classics including Rachmaninov’s Moments Musicaux, Prokofiev’s Visions fugitives, and pieces by Scriabin, Medtner and Tchaikovsky.

Born in Moscow in 1992, Tarasevich-Nikolaev began studying piano aged four and made his debut aged nine with the Bryansk City Chamber Orchestra. In 2011 he began studying at the Moscow Conservatory, where his teachers included Nikolay Lugansky, Sergey Dorensky, Andrey Pisarev and Pavel Nersessian. 

Tarasevich-Nikolaev was awarded second Prize at both the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 2013 and the 2016 Sydney International Piano Competition (which was streamed and broadcast around the world).

The young musician has already attracted influential admirers, with Dutch-Australian pianist and teacher Gerard Willems saying that ‘when I see Arseny play, the whole history of piano playing begins to unfold before me’. Norwegian newspaper the Bergens Tidende have also argued that Tarasevich-Nikolaev’s playing ‘brings to mind the grand performing style of the past’.

Dr Alexander Buhr, Manager Director of Decca Classics, has praised Tarasevich-Nikolaev’s ‘profound musicality and deeply lyrical talent, […] a rare treat in a musician of his young age, and we can’t wait to see him grow and develop in his career’. Cyrus Meher-Homji, General Manager of Universal Music Australia’s Classics & Jazz division, describes Tarasevich-Nikolaev as ‘the piano’s ultimate aristocrat’, explaining that the young musician’s deeply-felt and individual performances persuaded him to collaborate with Decca Classics in an exclusive deal.

Tarasevich-Nikolaev is set to perform Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 2 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra on April 25, 2018 at the Southbank Centre. He will also tour Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 2 with the LPO; Sir Roger Norrington will conduct.

Simon Fearn