Alexander Toradze is universally recognized as a masterful virtuoso in the grand Romantic tradition. With his unorthodox interpretations, deeply poetic lyricism, and intense emotional excitement, he lays claim to his own strong place in the lineage of the great Russian pianists.
Mr. Toradze maintains frequent appearances with the leading orchestras of North America, including the New York Philharmonic, Met Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and National Symphony of Washington DC. Overseas, he appears regularly with the Mariinsky Orchestra, La Scala Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, City of Birmingham Symphony, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, London Philharmonia, Israel Philharmonic, and the orchestras of Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Italy. In June 2003, he made his triumphant U.S. debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.
In October 2011 Mr. Toradze will embark on a North American tour with Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev conducting, playing Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1 and Prokofiev Piano Concert No. 3. He will also be returning to the Seattle Symphony in April 2012.
Mr. Toradze performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in January 2011 with the Indianapolis Symphony under Dmitri Slobodeniouk. In February 2011 he returned to Cincinnati Symphony for a performance of Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 with Maestro Paavo Järvi. He has performed recently with the Swedish Radio Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Pacific Symphony, Montreal Symphony, London Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Seattle Symphony and London Philharmonic, among others. In October 2006, he toured the U.S. with the Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre conducted by Valery Gergiev.
Mr. Toradze's recording of all five Prokofiev concertos with Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra for the Philips label is considered definitive among critics. Additionally, International Piano Quarterly named his recording of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 "historically the best on record" (from among over seventy recordings). Other highly successful recordings have included Scriabin's Prometheus: The Poem of Fire with the Kirov Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, as well as recital albums of the works of Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, Ravel, and Prokofiev for the Angel/EMI label.
Mr. Toradze regularly participates in summer music festivals including Salzburg, the White Nights in St. Petersburg, London's BBC Proms concerts, Edinburgh, Rotterdam, Mikkeli (Finland), the Hollywood Bowl, Saratoga, and Ravinia.
Born in 1952 in Tbilisi, Georgia, Alexander Toradze graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and soon became a professor there. In 1983, he moved permanently to the United States. In 1991, he was appointed as the Martin Endowed Chair Professor of Piano at Indiana University South Bend, where he has created a teaching environment that is unparalleled in its unique methods. The members of the multi-national Toradze Piano Studio have developed into a worldwide touring ensemble that has gathered great critical acclaim on an international level. In the 2002-2003 season, the Studio appeared in New York performing the complete cycle of Bach solo concerti, as well as Scriabin’s complete sonata cycle. The Studio has also performed projects detailing the piano and chamber works of Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Dvorak, and Stravinsky, in Rome, Venice, and Ravenna, Italy; the Klavier Festival Ruhr and Berlin Festivals in Germany; and in Boston, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
