Alexander Toradze
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Alexander (Lexo) Toradze (born 1952) is internationally recognized as a masterful piano virtuoso in the grand Romantic tradition.
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Alexander Toradze graduated in 1978 from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. In 1983, while on tour with the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra of Moscow, he requested asylum at the American Embassy in Madrid and has since made his home in the United States.
In 1991, Toradze became the Martin endowed professor of piano at Indiana University South Bend. The members of the multi-national Toradze Piano Studio at IUSB have been active participants in summer festivals including Salzburg, the White Nights, London Proms, Edinburgh, Ravinia, Ruhr, Rotterdam, Mikkeli, Finland, Hollywood Bowl, Saratoga among others.
The Toradze studio have received high praise for their contributions to the piano world, and has developed into a worldwide touring ensemble that has gathered critical acclaim on an international level. In the recent season the Studio appeared in Salzburg, New York, Rome, Florence, Venice, Ravenna, Lisbon, Ruhr Festival, among others. Mr. Toradze continuously appears with worlds leading orchestras such as Berlin Philharmonic, Kirov Orchestra, La Scala Philharmonic, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Bayerische Rundfunk Orchester, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, City of Birmingham Symphony, London's Symphony, Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestras, NHK in Japan, Czech, Hungarian, Israel, Rotterdam, Warsaw Philharmonics, the radio orchestras in Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Italy.
Toradze, who is skilled in the art of romantic music, namely that of Russian composers such as Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky has recorded for the Phillips and Angel/EMI record labels. Most notable is his recording of Prokofiev's five piano concertos with Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra for the Phillips record label. From this set, Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 was named by International Piano Quarterly as "historically the best on record" from among over seventy recordings. Other recordings, for Angel/EMI, include Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Prokofiev's Seventh Piano Sonata, Stravinsky's Three Scenes from Petrushka, Ravel's Miroirs and Gaspard de la nuit.
He has performed with virtually every major orchestra in the United States and is also famous for his praying before he performs. When asked in a radio interview with renowned classical radio host, Bruce Duffie, about what advice he could give to aspiring concert pianists, Toradze replied, "...Don't forget to pray to God before each performance and don't forget to give your soul enough air. Believe in the right purpose of art and believe in being human" (interview with Bruce Duffie, 2002).
