Alexander Melnikov

Alexander Melnikov completed his studies at the Moscow Conservatory under Lev Naumov. His most formative musical moments in Moscow include an early encounter with Svjatoslav Richter, who thereafter regularly invited him to festivals in Russia and France. He was awarded important prizes at eminent competitions such as the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau (1989) and the Concours Musical Reine Elisabeth in Brussels (1991).

Known for his often unusual musical and programmatic decisions, Alexander Melnikov developed his career-long interest in historically informed performance practice early on. His major influences in this field include Andreas Staier and Alexei Lubimov. Melnikov performs regularly with distinguished period ensembles including the Freiburger Barockorchester, Musica Aeterna and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.

As a soloist, Alexander Melnikov has performed with orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Philadelphia Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, HR-Sinfonieorchester, Munich Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic and BBC Philharmonic, under conductors such as Mikhail Pletnev, Teodor Currentzis, Charles Dutoit, Paavo Järvi and Vladimir Jurowski.

Together with Andreas Staier, Alexander Melnikov recorded a unique all-Schubert programme of four-hand pieces, which they have also performed in concert. An essential part of Melnikov’s work is intensive chamber music collaboration with partners including cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras.

Alexander Melnikov’s association with the label harmonia mundi arose through his regular recital partner, violinist Isabelle Faust, and in 2010 their complete recording of the Beethoven sonatas for violin and piano won a Gramophone Award. This album, which has become a landmark recording for these works, was also nominated for a Grammy. Their most recent releases feature Brahms and Mozart sonatas for violin and piano.

Melnikov’s recording of the Preludes and Fugues by Shostakovich was awarded the BBC Music Magazine Award, Choc de classica and the Jahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. In 2011, it was also named by the BBC Music Magazine as one of the “50 Greatest Recordings of All Time.” Additionally, his discography features works by Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Scriabin. Along with Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Pablo Heras-Casado and the Freiburger Barockorchester, Melnikov recorded a trilogy of albums featuring the Schumann Concertos and Trios (published in 2015-16) and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto (2021). Other releases include a complete recording of Prokofiev’s piano sonatas and “Four Pieces, Four Pianos”, released in 2018 and highly acclaimed by critics.

Highlights of the 2022/23 season will include Melnikov’s debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with conductor Teodor Currentzis, his first appearances with François-Xavier Roth’s orchestra “Les Siècles” with concerts in Montpellier (Festival Radio France) and the Salzburger Festspiele, and his debut with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Maxim Emelyanychev. Among others Alexander Melnikov follows re-invitations to orchestras such as the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dresdner Philharmonie, the Sinfonieorchester Basel or the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. He attaches great importance to collaborations with leading chamber orchestras and will work with the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the Kammerakademie Potsdam and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century in the 2022/23 season.

Alexander Melnikov continues his chamber music work in various formations with partners such as Teunis van der Zwart, Sol Gabetta, Isabelle Faust and Jean-Guihen Queyras and performs with at the Vienna Musikverein, the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, the Berliner Philharmonie, the Prinzregententheater in Munich and the Wigmore Hall in London.

Solo concerts at the Elbphilharmonie, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, the Toppan Hall in Tokyo, the Kölner Philarmonie or the Brucknerhaus Linz will complete Alexander Melnikov’s season this year.

As of June 2023