Alexander Gotgelf

Born in 1948, Alexander Gotgelf is a 1972 graduate of the Gnesin Institute, studying under Professor Armen Georgian. He has won all-Russian, all-Soviet and international contests, including the Fifth International Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow, 1974).

In 1969, Gotgelf began working in symphonic orchestras in the Russian capital (Moscow State Symphonic Orchestra; Academic Symphonic Orchestra of the Moscow State Philharmonia), and in chamber orchestras and ensembles (State Chamber Orchestra; Moscow Soloists; Contemporary Music Ensemble, under the leadership of Yuri Kasparov). He has been playing with the Russian National Orchestra since its founding in 1990.

Alexander Gotgelf has participated in numerous solo and chamber concerts. Over the years, he has played with Igor Oistrakh, Mikhail Pletnev, Natalia Shakhovskaya, the Borodin Quartet and others.

In 2002, the British firm Cello Classics, released a disk titled Great Moments in Cello Playing. Gotgelf's performance of "Scherzo" by Yuri Shaporin (at the Fifth International Tchaikovsky Competition) appears alongside the work of Pablo Casals, Emanuel Feuermann, Daniil Shafran, Gregor Piatigorsky, Mischa Maisky, Alexander Rudin and others. On the liner notes for this recording, Keith Harvey wrote of Gotgelf: "A cellist in Olympic mode, here is a demonstration, pure and simple, of fantastic Russian training. The coordination between Gotgelf's fingers and bow is utterly extraordinary, particularly since this was achieved under the intense conditions of the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Had there been such a thing as a Velocity Prize, he would undoubtedly have been the outright winner!"