Alexander Toradze (Piano)
Alexander Toradze is rightly recognised as a as one of the most
virtuoso performers of the Romantic tradition. He has enriched
the artistic legacy of the great Russian pianists with his own
unorthodox interpretations, deeply poetic lyricism and intensely emotional
passion.
Together with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra,
Alexander Toradze has recorded all five Prokofiev concerti for Philips,
and critics have hailed this recording as definitive. His recording of
Prokofiev's Piano Concert No. 3 was named by International Piano
Quarterly as "historically the best on record" (from among over
seventy other existing recordings). Other highly successful recordings have
included Scriabin’s musical poem Prometheus (The Poem of Fire)
with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under Valery Gergiev as well as
recordings of works by Musorgsky, Stravinsky, Ravel and Prokofiev for
the Angel/EMI label.
The pianist regularly appears with the world’s leading orchestras
under such great conductors of the present day as Valery Gergiev, Esa-Pekka
Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Mikko Franck, Paavo and Kristjan Jдrvi, Vladimir
Jurowski and Gianandrea Noseda.
Alexander Toradze moreover regularly takes part in numerous summer music
festivals including the Salzburg Festival, the Stars of
the White Nights in St Petersburg, London’s BBC
Proms concerts, Chicago’s Ravinia Festival and festivals
in Edinburgh, Rotterdam, Mikkeli (Finland), the Hollywood Bowl and
Saratoga. Toradze’s recent engagements include performances with the BBC
Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Orchestras under Gianandrea Noseda,
the London Symphony and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under Valery
Gergiev, the Cincinnati Symphony under Paavo Jдrvi and the London
Philharmonic under Vladimir Jurowski and Jukka-Pekka Saraste. He has also
appeared with the Orchestre National de France, the Gulbenkian
Orchestra and the Czech and the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestras.
In March 2010 Alexander Toradze took part in an American tour with
the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir
Jurowski, including a concert at the Avery Fisher Hall in New
York. The musician’s plans for the future include the opening
concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Stresa
Festival (Italy) under Gianandrea Noseda and the recording of both
Shostakovich Piano Concerti with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
under Paavo Jдrvi.
Born in Tbilisi, Alexander Toradze graduated from the Tchaikovsky
Conservatoire in Moscow and soon became a professor there.
In 1983 he emigrated to the USA and, in 1991, he was appointed
a Staff Professor at the Indiana University in South Bend, State
of Indiana, where he has created a teaching environment that is
unparalleled in its unique concept. Musicians from various countries who
attend the Toradze Piano Studio tour successfully around
the globe.
|