Alexander Melnikov – piano (Russia/Germany)

Alexander Melnikov-piano

Alexander Melnikov completed his studies at the Moscow Conservatory under Lev Naumov. One of his most formative musical experiences in Moscow includes an early encounter with Svjatoslav Richter, who thereafter regularly invited him to festivals in Russia and France. He is the recipient of multiple prestigious awards at eminent competitions such as the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau (1989) and the Concours Musical Reine Elisabeth in Brussels (1991).

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

An avid chamber music performer, Melnikov has developed a unique four-hand piano collaboration with Andreas Staier, he regularly performs with the cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and is a long-standing chamber partner of violinist Isabelle Faust with whom he has won the Gramophone Award and has been nominated for a Grammy.  Their recorded opus includes the complete Beethoven violin sonatas for Harmonia mundi, Brahms’ violin and piano sonatas for was released in 2015, followed by further recordings of the Mozart piano and violin sonatas in 2018 and 2021. His latest recording “Visiting Rachmaninov” with Julia Lezhneva (harmonia mundi, 2025), was the first-time music for the voice by Rachmaninov was recorded on the composer’s own grand piano in his Villa Senar. Melnikov’s recording of the Preludes and Fugues by Shostakovich was named by the BBC Music Magazine as one of the “50 Greatest Recordings of All Time.”

In the 2025/26 season, Alexander Melnikov will appear with prestigious orchestras including the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the Utopia Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Orchestre National de Lyon, Finnish Baroque Orchestra and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, under the direction of Maxim Emelyanychev, Tabita Berglund, Teodor Currentzis, Hannu Lintu, Natalia Ponomarchuk and Jan Söderblom, as well as directing from the piano himself.

Solo recitals at the Wigmore Hall London, the Flagey Brussels and the Auditorium Lyon round off Alexander Melnikov’s season, which also includes an Asian tour with concerts in Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and China.