Alexei Sultanov: Live Performances from the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory (2007)

A compelling performance… "Recorded live in the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory at the 1st and 2nd rounds of the XI International Tchaikovsky Competition" in June 1998… by one of the era's most talented musicians. In his too-short life and altogether too-brief career, Mr. Sultanov engendered controversy and conflict in the music world with his take-no-prisoners style that demanded complete surrender, enchanting many and offending others, and, as a result, he was unfairly denied the acclaim and honors for which he strove, which he had every right to expect from us, and which he so richly deserved. In every performance (now, alas, recorded only), he offers a precious gift, as if to say, each time, "Here, take it, it's yours." Those who acknowledge and accept the gift are blessed by a new and greater understanding of what they hear, as though for the first time. Those who cannot, or will not… they are the poorer. Mr. Sultanov passed away in June 2005 at the age of 35, four years after a series of strokes left him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair, although he retained movement in his right hand and, with the assistance of his wife, cellist Dace Abele, who provided the left-hand part, was able to play a keyboard and so began once more to perform, in nursing homes and medical facilities, for those who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to hear him. There is more to music than notes on a page, and Mr. Sultanov knew this well. Although he played pieces with which we were familiar, at his hands they became new, fresh, and exciting, and music lived and breathed, as it never had before. The piano responded to his touch, prostrating itself before him lovingly, like a faithful dog awaiting its master's caress. So should we all have done. I thought I knew something of music, but after hearing him play, I found I knew nothing, nothing at all, and it was the greatest moment in my life, a moment of joy and revelation. Thank you, Alexei Sultanov. Wherever you are, the music lives.

Review by S. Price

The tragic decease of Alexei Sultanov was probably the major artistic loss over the first lustrum of the new century for the rest of the world. The unbelievable and unexpected circumstances that signed his brief existence (35) could not avoid his invaluable legacy for the rest of the mortals.

Gifted with febrile temperament, steeled personality, his sound was always under the service of the expression and not vice versa like the great masters.

In memoriam!

Review by Hiram Gòmez Pardo Venezuela

Winning first prize at the 1989 Van Cliburn Competition, Alexei Sultanov enjoyed a meteoric rise of epic proportions, with a major recording contract, Carnegie Hall recital, American and European tours, and TV appearances with Johnny Carson, David Letterman, and other notables. But Sultanov's star soon fell to Earth as critics would often characterize his bold style in unflattering terms, finding his interpretive manner feral and superficial, and his herculean fortes ostentatious: he broke a string during a performance of the Liszt First Mephisto Waltz at the Cliburn Competition. But the youthful pianist's health soon proved a more formidable opponent than any critic's pen, as a series of strokes sabotaged his career, eventually leaving him paralyzed on his left side after 2001. Though he died at 35, Sultanov left a memorable though controversial legacy. His Prokofiev, Chopin, Rachmaninov, and Scriabin could rivet the listener, while his Beethoven and Mozart might have been less consistently engaging. His recordings, mostly available from Warner Classics, document the enormous talent of this imaginative performer, a pianist unafraid to take interpretive chances.

Alexei Sultanov was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on August 7, 1969. From age three he studied music with his father, a cellist, and his mother, a violinist. After piano lessons with Tamara Popovich in Tashkent, he enrolled at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow in his early teens.

At 19 Sultanov won the Fort Worth-based Cliburn Competition and immediately generated controversy: at least two jury members, famed pianists György Sándor and John Lill, doubted he was artistically mature, and several major critics expressed similar concerns following his debut recitals.

Nevertheless, Sultanov managed to stay in the limelight with his television appearances, concert tours, and recordings. When the Cliburn-sponsored tours ended in 1993, Sultanov, living in Fort Worth with his cellist-wife Dace Abele, took control of his now waning career.

In 1995 he captured second prize at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, but refused to accept it, because no first prize was awarded. Several months later he suffered a stroke, which caused no debilitating effects. In 2001 a head injury from a fall led to a second and far more serious stroke. Following lengthy therapy Sultanov was able to appear in small local recitals, playing with his right hand only while his wife accompanied on the cello or played the left-hand piano part. Sultanov would never regain use of his left hand. He died on June 30, 2005.

Robert Cummings, Allmusic.com