Alexander Melnikov

Biography

Alexander Melnikov completed his studies at the Moscow Conservatory under Lev Naumov. One of his most formative musical experiences includes an early encounter with Sviatoslav Richter, who thereafter regularly invited him to festivals in Russia and France. Melnikov is a laureate of multiple competitions such as the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau (1989) and the Queen Elisabeth Competition 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, with whom he has undertaken numerous projects. Melnikov performs regularly with distinguished period ensembles, including the Freiburger Barockorchester, Musica Aeterna, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and Orchestre des Champs-Élysées.
As a soloist, Alexander Melnikov has been invited to perform with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, Gewandhausorchester in Leipzig, Philadelphia Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, hr-Sinfonieorchester, as well as with Munich Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and BBC Philharmonic, among others, under the baton of conductors such as Mikhail Pletnev, Teodor Currentzis, Charles Dutoit, Paavo Järvi, Thomas Dausgaard, Maxim Emelyanychev, and Vladimir Jurowski.
Passionate about chamber music, he has formed fruitful musical friendships. Together with Andreas Staier, Alexander Melnikov recorded an all-Schubert programme of four-hand pieces, which they have also performed in concert. He also collaborates regularly with Jean-Guihen Queyras and Isabelle Faust. Having won the Gramophone Award, Germany’s 2010 ECHO Klassik Prize, and a Grammy nomination amongst other accolades, his joint recording with Isabelle Faust of the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas for harmonia mundi has earned its place as one of the key reference recordings. Their recording of the Brahms Violin Sonatas was released in 2015, followed by the Mozart piano and violin sonatas in 2018.
Melnikov’s harmonia mundi recording of the Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, was awarded the 2011 BBC Music Magazine Award, 2010 Choc de Classica, and the annual prize of the German record critics. In 2011, the BBC Music Magazine named it one of the “50 Greatest Recordings of All Time.”
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 Piano Trios (released in 2015-16) and the Beethoven “Triple Concerto” (2021). His critically acclaimed album “Four Pieces, Four Pianos” was released in 2018, and he also made a complete recording of Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas and released the album “Fantasie: 7 Composers, 7 Keyboards” (2023), performing on instruments reflecting the periods in which the works were written, as on his 2018 album and the recital programme “Many Pianos.” In addition to this solo album, 2023 saw the release of Schumann’s Piano Quartet, Op. 47, and Piano Quintet, Op. 44, featuring Melnikov together with Isabelle Faust, Anne Katharina Schreiber, Antoine Tamestit, and Jean-Guihen Queyras.
Artist-in-residence at the Vienna Konzerthaus in the 2024/25 season, he continues to tour around the world, including Japan, America, and Europe, where he performs with the most renowned orchestras, while also giving recitals at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Lyon Auditorium, in Prague, Madrid, at Philia Hall in Yokohama, and at Toppan Hall in Tokyo... He is also set to continue his chamber music activities, performing in a wide variety of formats with partners including Isabelle Faust, Antoine Tamestit, Alexei Lubimov, Olga Pashchenko, Mikhail Shilyaev, and Jean-Guihen Queyras, and appearing in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Berlin, Lyon, Amsterdam, Bonn, Vancouver, Seattle, and London....