Alexandre Alexandrovitch Kniazev (russian: Александр Александрович Князев) (born 26 April 1961 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

) is a Russian

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

. He was named best musician of the year in Russia in 1999. Kniazev studied music at

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

. He entered the cello class of Alexander Fedorchenko and in the organ class of G. Kozlova. After a solid musical formation, he won first prizes in cello at the

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

competition, at that of G. Cassado, the International Chamber Music Competition in Trapini, and

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. He also won the third prize of the

International Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

of Moscow. He then performed all over the world and realized many records, two of which were awarded.

Discography

*J. Brahms: '' Piano Trio No. 3'' in C minor op. 101 no.3, '' Piano Quartet No. 3'' in C minor op. 60 no.3 ''Suoni e Colori'' (1999) *F. Chopin: ''

Cello sonata A cello sonata is usually a sonata written for solo cello with piano accompaniment. The most famous Romantic-era cello sonatas are those written by Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were written in the 1 ...

'' in G minor op. 65 *J. Brahms: ''Four serious songs'' for baritone and piano (arr. Kniazev) *R. Schumann: ''Three Fantasies'', Pieces op. 73 *J. Guillou: ''Fantasia Concertante for cello and organ'' *J. S. Bach: ''

Cello Suites The six Cello Suites, BWV 1007–1012, are suites for unaccompanied cello by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). They are some of the most frequently performed solo compositions ever written for cello. Bach most likely composed them during the p ...

'' (1999) *J. S. Bach: ''Chaconne for Partita No. 2 in D minor for violin'' (2000) *L. Beethoven: '' Violin sonata No. 5'' in F major op. 24 "Spring" *F. Schubert: ''Duet for violin and piano'' in A major op. 162 D574 *J. Brahms: ''Scherzo for violin and piano'' "F.A.E. Sonata" (2001) *J. Brahms: '' Piano Quartet No. 1'' in G minor op. 25 no. 1 *J. Brahms: ''

Clarinet Trio A clarinet trio is a chamber ensemble that consists of a clarinet, a bowed string instrument and a piano, or a musical work for such an ensemble. The string instrument can be a cello, a viola, or a violin. Therefore, a clarinet trio can be ref ...

'' in A minor op. 114 (2001) *M. Reger: ''Four Sonatas'' for Cello and Piano (2001) *J. S. Bach: ''Cello Suites'' (2004) *S. Rachmaninov: '' Trio "elegiaque" No. 2'' in D minor op. 9 *D. Shostakovich: '' Piano Trio No. 2'' in E minor op. 67 (2005) *P. I. Tchaikovsky: ''

Variations on a Rococo Theme The ''Variations on a Rococo Theme'',; in russian: Вариации на тему рококо. Op. 33, for cello and orchestra was the closest Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ever came to writing a full concerto for cello and orchestra. The style was ins ...

'', Andante cantabile, Nocturne in E minor *P. I. Tchaikovsky: ''Twelve Romances'' (2005) *F. Chopin: ''Cello sonata'' in G minor op. 65 *S. Rachmaninov: ''

Cello Sonata A cello sonata is usually a sonata written for solo cello with piano accompaniment. The most famous Romantic-era cello sonatas are those written by Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were written in the 1 ...

'' in G minor op.19 *S. Rachmaninov: ''

Vocalise A vocal warm-up is a series of exercises meant to prepare the voice for singing, acting, or other use. There is very little scientific data about the benefits of vocal warm-ups. Relatively few studies have researched the effects of thesexercis ...

'' op.34 n.14 (2006)

External links

Alexander Kniazev

on Homestead.com
Alexander Kniazev
on Mariinsky Theatre

on Bach Cantatas Website
News - cello - Alexander Kniazev
on The XV International Tchaikovsky Competition
Brahms - Sonata no.1 op.38 - Alexander Kniazev & Andrei Korobeinikov
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Kniazev, Alexander Musicians from Moscow 1961 births Russian classical cellists Russian organists Male organists 20th-century organists Moscow Conservatory alumni Prize-winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition Living people 21st-century organists