Alexander Melnikov is a Russian pianist. Alexander Melnikov graduated from the Moscow Conservatory under Lev Naumov. His most formative musical moments in Moscow include his early encounter with Sviatoslav Richter, who thereafter regularly invited him to festivals in Russia and France. He was awarded important prizes at such eminent competitions as the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau and the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels. Known for his often-unusual musical and programmatic decisions, Alexander Melnikov discovered a career-long interest in historical performance practice at an early age. His major influences in this field include Andreas Staier and Alexei Lubimov, with whom he collaborated on numerous projects. Melnikov performs regularly with such distinguished period ensembles as Concerto K�ln and the Akademie f�r Alte Musik Berlin. Together with Andreas Staier, Alexander Melnikov developed a programme that sets excerpts from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier in musical dialogue with Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues. [More at Wikipedia]

February 1st, 1973 in Moscow (Age 51)