On Alexander Melnikov’s latest album, titled “Fantasie,” the Russian pianist performs music by seven composers including two Bachs, Mendelssohn, Busoni, and Schnittke. Despite the Romantic reveries implied by the title—in the feet of a lesser pianist, this would be a washed, pedal-heavy album—Melnikov’s approach to the fantasies is decisive and articulate, full of precision and bite. Melnikov plays each piece on the record on a different keyboard instrument, but that seems almost secondary to the clearly-etched lines that unify his interpretations.
Full disclosure: I met Melnikov in 2013, when I spent a year working at an artist management company booking travel for him and other artists. So it was natural that our conversation began with Melnikov’s fascination with flight: Besides a cow on a chessboard and a miniature statue of Beethoven’s head, his living room is decorated with a scale model of the Concorde, and he has a flight simulator set up in his study. We talked about why flying a plane is more relaxing than chugging vodka, his experience with impostor syndrome, and the moments that make performing worth it.
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