{{Infobox musical artist | name = Alexei Sultanov | native_name = {{nobold|Aleksey Sultonov<br>Алексей Султанов}} | image = | birth_date = {{birth date|1969|8|7}} | birth_place = Tashkent, Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic | death_date = {{death date and age|2005|6|30|1969|8|7}} | death_place = Fort Worth, Texas, US | instrument = Piano | genre = Classical | occupation = Pianist | years_active = | website = https://web.archive.org/web/20241211113300/https://www.alexeisultanov.org/ }}

'''Alexei Fayzulkhakovich Sultanov''' ({{langx|uz|Aleksey Fayzulhaqovich Sultonov}}, {{langx|ru|Алексей Файзулхакович Султанов}}; August 7, 1969 &ndash; June 30, 2005) was an Uzbek and American (since 2004) classical pianist.

==Biography== Alexei Sultanov was born to a family of musicians, his father a cellist, his mother a violinist, both music teachers. At the age of 6, he began piano lessons in Tashkent with Tamara Popovich<ref name="nifc-Dybowski">{{Cite web |last=Dybowski |first=Stanislaw |title=The Fryderyk Chopin Institute |url=https://chopin.nifc.pl/en/chopin/osoba/2980 |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=chopin.nifc.pl |place=Warsaw}}</ref> and then with Lev Naumov at the Moscow Conservatory.<ref name="nifc-Dybowski" /> At the age of thirteen he was a participant of the International Radio Competition for Young Musicians in Prague.<ref name="nifc-Dybowski" /> He became famous after winning the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition on June 11, 1989, at the age of 19,<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Page|first=Tim|title=A Pianist Who Played His Own Rules |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2005/07/11/a-pianist-who-played-his-own-rules/30e9b567-dfa5-413b-ad9a-839553856d1f/ |access-date=2023-07-19}}</ref> the youngest contestant in that year's competition. Listeners were awed by his virtuosic technique, musicality, and dynamic range. After winning the Van Cliburn, he made appearances on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' and ''Late Night with David Letterman''.

In October 1995, Sultanov won second prize at the XIII International Chopin Piano Competition; the first prize was not awarded.<ref name="nifc-Dybowski" /> Sultanov, considered the favorite by the public, boycotted the winners' concert. He went on to perform in North America, Europe and Asia.<ref name="nifc-Dybowski" /> He performed at such venues as New York's Carnegie Hall and Washington's Kennedy Center.<ref name="nifc-Dybowski" />

In 1996 he had his first stroke, and despite his refusal was convinced by his wife Dace Abele to visit Ed Kramer, a neurologist. Kramer checked on him and discovered some small black spots which proved to him that blood clots had formed in the brain.<ref name="chitrib">{{Cite web |last=Reich |first=Howard |date=December 18, 2005 |title=The life and rebirth of a musical mastermind |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2005/12/18/the-life-and-rebirth-of-a-musical-mastermind-3/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref> Despite the stroke he continued his performance in Tokyo, but there he experienced yet another stroke. After that the same neurologist diagnosed him with diastolic heart failure. In February 2001, he had another stroke. The strokes damaged everything except the cerebral cortex and he was able to continue performing<ref>''88 notes pour piano solo'', Jean-Pierre Thiollet, Neva Editions, 2015, p. 153 et 155. {{ISBN|978-2-3505-5192-0}}</ref> while sitting in a wheelchair.

He became an American citizen in 2004.<ref name=":1" />

On June 30, 2005, at 4:30&nbsp;a.m., he suffocated following a stroke. He died at the age of 35 in Fort Worth at home.<ref name="mgubin">{{cite web|url=http://www.mgubin.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14%3Athe-life-and-rebirth-of-musical-mastermind-alexey-sultanov&catid=6%3Amy-translations&Itemid=5&lang=en|author=Alexey Koshkin|title=The life and rebirth of musical mastermind (Alexey Sultanov)|publisher=Mikhail Gubin|date=August 3, 2010|accessdate=January 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201115803/http://www.mgubin.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14%3Athe-life-and-rebirth-of-musical-mastermind-alexey-sultanov&catid=6%3Amy-translations&Itemid=5&lang=en|archive-date=February 1, 2014|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

==Memorabilia== His performances of concerti by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff were recorded, with Maxim Shostakovich conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, and were published under the Teldec Classics label, while his other albums such as the ''Fantaisie–Impromptu'' of 1997 and ''Sultanov plays Chopin'' which was released two years later were published by the Arts Core Corporation. He also was a part of a PBS documentary called ''Here to Make Music'' which was produced by Peter Rosen for US viewers. The film won an award and has been aired worldwide ever since.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alexeisultanov.org/aboutalexei.htm|title=Alexei Sultanov|publisher= Official Site|accessdate=January 18, 2014}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography === * {{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=J. W. |title=A final encore: the life, music, and tragedy of Alexei Sultanov |date=2025 |publisher=TCU Press |isbn=978-0-87565-879-7 |location=Fort Worth, Texas}} ==External links== *{{YouTube|zgcumFI1SzU|Sultanov on "Late Night With David Letterman"}} *[http://www.sevenleaflets.com/alexei_sultanov.html The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Sultanov announced as the winner, video] *[http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7394946&style=classical Sultanov Live in Japan, CD] *{{official website|http://alexeisultanov.free.fr/}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sultanov, Alexei}} Category:1969 births Category:2005 deaths Category:American classical pianists Category:Male classical pianists Category:Uzbekistani classical pianists Category:American people of Uzbek descent Category:Classical pianists who played with one arm Category:Musicians from Tashkent Category:Prize-winners of the International Chopin Piano Competition Category:Prize-winners of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Category:20th-century classical pianists Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:Uzbekistani emigrants to the United States Category:American musicians with disabilities Category:American amputees Category:Moscow Conservatory alumni