Bridgewater Sinfonia, Berkhamsted

Alexander Ardakov

Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor – 7 March 2009
Tchaikovsky – Piano Concerto No 1 in B flat minor – 19 November 2012

Alexander Ardakov was born in Kuibyshev (now Samara), a Russian town on the bank of Volga. Since 1991 he has been living in Britain and is proud to say that he is one of Britain’s leading pianists, also holding a professorship at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. He is much in demand for master classes.

Alexander began studying music at the age of seven at the Kuibyshev Music School in Russia, with Lyia Klempert, going on to study under Lydia Muraviova who was a former pupil of the well-known Moscow professor Heinrich Neuhaus.  At the same time he was playing with the Kuibyshev Symphony Orchestra and in 1971 rose to prominence by winning First Prize at the Kabalevsky Piano Competition. The next step for this outstanding talent was to leave his native town and travel to Moscow, where he continued his education at the world famous Conservatoire under Vera Gornostaeva.  In 1984 he won a prize at the Viotti International Competition in Vercelli, Italy.

Until he left Russia in 1991, Alexander worked as a soloist and chamber musician with the Moscow State Philharmonia, performing at venues throughout the USSR and abroad.

The move to Britain and to Trinity College of Music in 1991 has enabled him to develop as an international recitalist of exceptional versatility and musical integrity. Among his notable radio recordings are those for BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. He feels at home not only with the Russian classics but also with the composers of the romantic period such as Chopin, Liszt and Schumann.

Indeed, Alexander’s audiences are never left indifferent, they are swept up in the sensitivity, intensity and passion of his playing that takes them on a journey from the most tender and intimate perceptions to the dramatic peaks of life’s greatest moments. Each meeting with him is a virtuoso performance that leaves the hearer emotionally sated yet still thirsty for more.

Alexander’s extensive discography includes Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Alexander Gibson. Further CD recordings are planned.

Written by Daryl Ann Hardman