Alexander Gadjiev is an artist who bridges two worlds. Everything about the 26-year-old pianist has come in pairs, from his birth in the twin cities of Gorizia and Nova Gorica on the Italy-Slovenia border, to his fascination with science and analysis on one hand and music and deep feelings on the other.
Even the first teachers of this intellectually curious artist came as a pair. “My parents – both professional pianists – were my first teachers,” he says, speaking from his home in Berlin. “I started lessons with my mother, Ingrid, when I was around four years of age. Then, I studied with my father, Siavush, whose style was formed in Russia.”
Studying at such a tender age with one’s parents can pose challenges for all involved, but the Gadjiev family proceeded with balance and caution. “With the emotional attachment between parents and child, it’s hard to be impartial and to determine whether the child is really talented or not,” Gadjiev reflects. “I think a key was not being too ambitious for me, not pushing too hard.”
At the age of nine, Gadjiev performed Haydn's Piano Concerto in C major with an orchestra in Italy and had his first recital a year later. But his keen interest in the world around him and in life’s big questions did not lead him to a conservatory education in his teens. Instead, he followed what we now call a STEM curriculum, rich in science and mathematics. “It’s almost a cliché to draw a parallel between music and mathematics,” he says, “but they have much in common. In high school, I wasn’t sure whether I would study music or science after graduation.”
Music obviously won that tug of war. But Gadjiev’s fascination with science, math and ideas has not waned. “I’ve been interested lately in 18th-century music, which has so much to do with structural and tonal relationships.” Patterns, whether musical or through the study of geometry, engage and connect Gadjiev to a broad vision of the world in which music plays an important, but not exclusive, part.
Gadjiev’s career has skyrocketed since the early years of the 21st century as he won top honours at several piano competitions, including first prize in the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 2015, one of the top ten piano competitions in the world. “Competing at Hamamatsu was a multi-dimensional experience,” the pianist reflects. “On the one hand, piano is an art, so why would you want to compete? On the other, it challenges you to be your best. So from a human point of view, playing in a competition is a very fulfilling experience. You’re practicing a long time and giving it your all. Plus, you get to meet new people.
“Hamamatsu was so welcoming and really took care of us. We got to know each other quite well and some of us have stayed friends until this day. This spirit, rather than just who won and who lost, should be emphasised,” he says warmly. “In the end, it’s a feast, it’s a moment of joy.”
Gadjiev was so impressed by Japan that he visited ten times during the six years since the competition. In addition, inspired to continue testing himself, he will enter the XVIII Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2021.
Gadjiev sees music as far more than a contest, yet relishes performing before the world’s most exacting musical jurists. Winning major competitions like Hamamatsu can jump-start careers, and Gadjiev’s is no exception. He released an album, Literary Fantasies: Liszt and Schumann (Acousence Classics, 2018) and is planning another release featuring the music of Prokofiev in 2021. At the same time, his busy performing schedule continued to grow until the international hiatus caused by the global pandemic took effect in 2020. While acknowledging the devastating impact of the pandemic, with performing artists hit especially hard, Gadjiev noted that lockdowns and other restrictions did provide some quiet time for reflection and reassessment, musing on past influences, his own evolving style, and new music in the 21st century.
A classically trained pianist, the discovery of the music of Keith Jarrett when he was still a teen changed Gadjiev's life. Jarrett, an artist widely acclaimed for bringing together the classical and jazz worlds, electrified him. “It was a completely different experience than listening to Bach or Chopin,” he says. “I was just drawn to it, listening to his narrative, the incredible story he tells through his playing.” In particular, he was impressed by the Sun Bear album that Jarrett recorded in 1976 on a tour of Japan, which features more than six and a half hours of Jarrett’s solo piano performances.
“It was live, and Jarrett took some huge musical risks,” says Gadjiev, with a touch of awe and wonder in his voice. “The concerts were divided into two parts. Jarrett’s performances included a half hour or more of improvisations, allowing the artist to really create,” Gadjiev says, “and it’s clear he has huge knowledge of, say, counterpoint. He’s played a lot of Bach, a lot of Shostakovich, and you can hear it in the energy of this recording.” As a result, Gadjiev, too, has developed his skills at improvisation, occasionally including an improvised encore after a recital. “Sometimes,” he adds, “I wonder what might have been, whether I could have taken the path of a jazz musician!”