Anatoly Alexandrov, a Russian composer, lived to be almost 94, a very long life by the standard of Soviet composers.
Composer Biography
Anatoly Alexandrov's mother, Anna Yakovlevna Alexandrova-Levenson, was a piano teacher who had studied with Tchaikovsky and Karl Klindworth, a former pupil of Liszt.
Critical Reception
In the mid-1920s, Anatoly Alexandrov's reputation in the USSR was at its highest, with critics like Viktor Belyayev characterizing him as 'a poet'.
Composer Biography
Anatoly Alexandrov was a faculty member at Moscow Conservatoire from 1923, becoming Professor of Composition in 1926 and remaining in that post until his retirement.
Composition History
The earliest works of Anatoly Alexandrov, such as the Six Preludes, Op. 1, were admired by Sergei Rachmaninov and Nikolai Medtner.
Recording & Production
Several pieces on this album, including the Ballade, Op. 49, and Four Narratives, Op. 48, are first recordings, with the Piano Sonata No. 8 being a first recording on CD.
Compositional Technique
Anatoly Alexandrov asserted that his odd-numbered sonatas reflected 'modernism' and his even-numbered ones 'Medtner', though this distinction is not always clear in the works themselves.
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