“The way Alexej Gorlatch… tackles Beethoven’s “Tempest” Sonata is outstanding. Afterwards one is left wondering whether Beethoven’s rugged style or revelling pianistic virtuosity won the day; but it is this conveyance of ideas that makes Gorlatch’s playing exceptional.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
Alexej Gorlatch is Professor of Piano at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts. From 2016 to 2020, he held a professorship at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. He previously taught at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts and at the Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media. He gives masterclasses in Europe, Asia and the USA and has been a jury member of international competitions.
He studied at the Berlin University of Arts with Martin Hughes and at the Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and Bernd Goetzke, where he graduated with the Konzertexamen.
His victory at the International ARD Music Competition, where Alexej Gorlatch received first prize, the audience prize and several further special awards, was preceded by a remarkable musical career – within just six years, he received first prize at nine renowned international piano competitions, including the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition 2006, Deutscher Musikwettbewerb 2008, International Anton G. Rubinstein-Competition 2009 and the Dublin International Piano Competition 2009, as well as being awarded the Silver Medal at the 2009 Leeds International Pianoforte Competition.
With a lot of commitment and experience Alexej Gorlatch is active in the performance and mediation of 20th and 21st century music. In his worldwide concert appearances he has performed works by Lera Auerbach, Wolfgang Rihm, György Ligeti, Ferruccio Busoni, Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Benjamin Britten, Arnold Schönberg, Edgar Varèse, Dmitri Schostakowitsch, Sergej Prokofiev, Aram Khachaturian, Igor Shamo, Marin Goleminov, Nikolai Medtner, Bill Whelan, Minako Tokuyama and Jie Sun Lim with great success. His discography includes the Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, the Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky’s early piano sonata, and works by Benjamin Britten and Béla Bartók. In his teaching practice he devotes himself with dedication to the works of Samuel Barber, Paul Hindemith, Pierre Boulez, John Adams, Nikolai Kapustin, Lowell Liebermann, Carl Vine, George Crumb, Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg, and Helmut Lachenmann.
Alexej Gorlatch gave highly acclaimed performances at the world’s most prestigious concert venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Great Hall of the Berliner Philharmonie, Salle Alfred Cortot in Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus, Salzburg Festspielhaus, Suntory Hall and Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, the Herkulessaal and Philharmonie in Munich, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, and the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia. He has been invited to perform at the Festival International de Piano “La Roque d’Anthéron”, Lucerne Festival, Ruhr Piano Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Yokohama International Piano Festival, the Schwetzinger Festspiele, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Wexford Opera Festival in Ireland, and the Harrogate International Festival in the UK among others. He went on concert tours in Germany, Japan, South Korea, Italy, South Africa, Ireland, and the USA.
As soloist Alexej Gorlatch appeared with numerous orchestras, such as the Hallé Manchester, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Camerata Salzburg, RTÉ National Symphony Ireland, leading orchestras of Japan – NHK, Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, and Nagoya Philharmonic – Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, NDR Symphony, Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Korean Symphony, Malmö Symphony, Orchestre National de Belgique, and the Johannesburg Philharmonic.
For his latest CD on Sony Classical Alexej Gorlatch recorded works for piano and orchestra by Igor Stravinsky with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin conducted by Alondra de la Parra. This CD, as well as the recordings he made on OehmsClassics, BR Klassik, Genuin and RAM, and the releases of his live performances on the Edition Ruhr Piano Festival and the BR Klassik labels have been greeted with great acclaim.