Alexei Sultanov (russian: Алексей Султанов; August 7, 1969 – June 30, 2005) was a Soviet Union-born American classical

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

of Uzbek origin.

Biography

Alexei Sultanov was born to a family of musicians, his father a cellist, his mother a violinist, both music teachers. At the age of 6, he began piano lessons in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

with Tamara Popovich and then with

Lev Naumov Lev Nikolayevich Naumov (russian: Лев Никола́евич Нау́мов; 12 February 1925, Rostov – 21 August 2005, Moscow) was a Russians, Russian classical pianist, composer and educator. Received a title of People's Artist of Russi ...

at the

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 ...

. At the age of thirteen he was a participant of the International Radio Competition for Young Musicians in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. He became famous after winning the Eighth

Van Cliburn International Piano Competition The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (The Cliburn) is an American piano competition by The Cliburn, first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas and hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. Initially held at Texas Christian University, the c ...

on June 11, 1989, at the age of 19, the youngest contestant in that year's competition. Listeners were awed by his virtuosic technique, musicality, and dynamic range. After winning the Van Cliburn, he made appearances on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'' and '' Late Night with David Letterman''. In October 1995, Sultanov won second prize at the

XIII International Chopin Piano Competition The XIII International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, XIII Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) took place in Warsaw from October 1–22, 1995. As in the XII International Chopin Piano Competition, previous competition five ...

but he refused to accept it ; the grand prize was not awarded. He became an American citizen in 2004.

Strokes and death

In 1996 he had his first stroke, and despite his refusal was convinced by his wife Dace Abele to visit Ed Kramer, a neurologist. Kramer checked on him and discovered some small black spots which proved to him that blood clots had formed in the

brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a ve ...

. Despite the stroke he continued his performance in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, but there he experienced another stroke. After that the same neurologist diagnosed him with

diastolic heart failure Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a form of heart failure in which the ejection fraction – the percentage of the volume of blood ejected from the left ventricle with each heartbeat divided by the volume of blood when the ...

. In February 2001, he had another stroke. The strokes damaged everything except the

cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. The cerebral cortex mostly consists of the six-layered neocortex, with just 10% consistin ...

and he was able to continue performing while sitting in a wheelchair. On June 30, 2005, at 4:30 a.m., he suffocated following a stroke. He died at the age of 35 in Fort Worth.

Memorabilia

His performances of concerti by

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

and

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

were recorded, with

Maxim Shostakovich Maxim Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (russian: Макси́м Дми́триевич Шостако́вич; born 10 May 1938 in Leningrad) is a Soviet, Russian and American conductor and pianist. He is the second child of the composer Dmitri Shostak ...

conducting the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

, and were published under the Teldec Classics label, while his other albums such as the ''Fantaisie–Impromptu'' of 1997 and ''Sultanov plays Chopin'' which was released two years later were published by the Arts Core Corporation. He also was a part of a

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary called '' Here to Make Music'' which was produced by

Peter Rosen Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

for US viewers. The film won an award and has been aired worldwide ever since.

References

External links

*
The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Sultanov announced as the winner, videoSultanov Live in Japan, CD
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sultanov, Alexei 1969 births 2005 deaths American classical pianists Male classical pianists Uzbekistani classical pianists American people of Uzbek descent Classical pianists who played with one arm Musicians from Tashkent Prize-winners of the International Chopin Piano Competition Prize-winners of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century American male musicians Uzbekistani emigrants to the United States