Tonight, Lugansky will give a concert at the art centre Cankarjev dom, where he will be accompanied by the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by maestro Uroš Lajovic, the Ljubljana Festival said as it announced the concerts.

Today classical music aficionados will get a chance to listen to his interpretations of Mendelssohn, Chopin and Moniuszko, while his solo concert, which will be played tomorrow at the Slovenian Slovenian Philharmonics, will feature works by Schubert and Tchaikovsky.

When Lugansky won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1994, the Russian media described his victory as "a true musical shock". "Nobody could imagine that the soul of this modest young man of ascetic yet poetical features could hide such a volcano with so much self-control inside," the praise went.

Today Lugansky is considered a desirable member of the Russian piano scene. He performs at concert halls and high-profile festivals, accompanied by the world's most important orchestras and conductors. His repertoire includes more than 50 piano concerts and a number of solo and chamber music pieces.

He was in Slovenia in 2001, when he played a solo piano recital as part of the Ljubljana Festival.