French pianist Alexandre Kantorow is being hailed by critics as an impressive virtuoso at an exceptionally young age. Son of French violinist and conductor Jean-Jacques Kantorow, his mother is also a violinist and Alexandre was introduced to music from a very early age. He studied piano with several eminent teachers including Pierre-Alain Volondat, Igor Lazko, Franck Braley and Rena Shereshevskay. By the age of 16 he was being invited to play at festivals La Folle Journée in Nantes and with the Sinfonia Varsovia in Warsaw. He has performed with orchestras throughout Europe and is a regular soloist with the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev.
In 2015, he released his debut album 'Sonates Françaises' on the NoMadMusic label. The recordings of three French violin sonatas by Fauré, Chevillard and Gedalge featured his father Jean-Jacques on the violin, with Alexandre accompanying on the piano. His debut album as piano soloist was of Liszt's 'Piano Concertos' (2015) with the Tapiola Sinfonietta, conducted by his father. The album, recorded on the BIS Record Label, was extremely well reviewed by critics who likened his style to the composer himself, calling him "Liszt reincarnated". His next album 'A là Russe' (2017) contained works by Russian composers including Rachmaninov's 'Piano Sonata No. 1', Balakirev's 'Islamey' and Tchaikovsky's 'Morceaux' and 'Scherzo à la Russe'. His fourth album, recorded in 2019, was of 'Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 4 and 5' by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns.
In 2019, Kantorow gained further recognition at the 16th International Tchaikovsky Festival where he became the first French pianist to win both the Gold Medal for first place in the piano category, and the Grand Prix, a discretionary prize which has only been awarded three times in the history of the competition.
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