Great pianist and dear friend Alexander Toradze passed away

On May 11, 2022, the music world lost Alexander Toradze, a titanic pianist, a gigantic personality, a very dedicated musician and an immensely generous man.
Toradze passed away in his home in South Bend, Indiana at the age of 69. On April 23, he suffered heart failure during a performance with the Vancouver Symphony (US) but promptly recovered and was looking forward to performing his beloved Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Illinois Philharmonic on Saturday, May 14.
Born in Tbilisi on May 30, 1952, Alexander Toradze was the son of the leading Georgian composer David Toradze and film star Liana Asatiani. He graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and toured the West as a Soviet artist, soon becoming one of the leading pianists of his generation after winning the silver medal at the 1977 Cliburn Competition. He defected in 1983 and moved to the United States in 1991 where he was appointed the Martin Endowed Professor in Piano at Indiana University South Bend and became an internationally acclaimed teacher for over 25 years. In 1995 he created the Toradze Piano Studio which developed into a worldwide touring ensemble receiving critical acclaim for performance projects in Europe and the US.
Toradze performed extensively in the US, Europe and Japan with the great orchestras and conductors of our time. His personal and intense interpretations of the Prokofiev Piano Concerti remain a milestone within the vast repertoire he possessed.
Thanks to his lifelong friendship with Joseph Horowitz, we are able to share this amazing one-hour interview with Toradze which should be seen by all devotees of the piano, and fledgling pianists at music schools and conservatories - please see link below.

Ettore Volontieri, who managed Alexander Toradze’s career in Europe since 1994, mourns a personal friend and a professional partner for life.