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).

As a soloist, Alexander Melnikov has performed with orchestras including the Koninklijk
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.
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, Rachmaninov, 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). 

Highlights of the 2023/24 season will be Alexander Melnikov's concert tour to Australia with the
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, his residency as
"Porträtkünstler" at the Kölner Philharmonie, performances with François-Xavier Roth's orchestra
"Les Siècles", concerts with orchestras such as the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, the Atlanta
Symphony Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic
Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Münchener Kammerorchester, or the baroque
orchestra B'Rock from Belgium, and collaborations with Maxim Emelyanychev, Anja Bihlmaier,
Vladimir Jurowski, Nicholas Collon, and Osmo Vänskä, among others.
Alexander Melnikov continues his chamber music work in various formations with partners such
as Isabelle Faust, Antoine Tamestit and Jean-Guihen Queyras. 

Solo concerts at the Berliner Philharmonie, Toppan Hall in Tokyo, Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam's
Muziekgebouw or Munich's Prinzregententheater will complete Alexander Melnikov's season this
year.