The Linz-born pianist Alexander Gegelyfi is a specialist in historical keyboard instruments. His keen interests in the development of his instrument and in researching and exploring Austrian music from the 17th and 18th centuries have led him to work in a variety of musical ensembles.
In 2023, he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival in the new Kleine Nachtmusiken series with baritone Georg Nigl, with whom he has since appeared every year, performing on various historical keyboard instruments.
He is a permanent member of the Stuttgart Baroque orchestra il Gusto Barocco, with which his projects have included a Monteverdi cycle at the National Theatre in Mannheim. From 2014 to 2017 he performed with the much-acclaimed Berlin ensemble nexus baroque. He has also worked with the Neue Hofkapelle Graz, the L’Orfeo Barockorchester, Concentus Musicus Wien, the Compagnia Transalpina, the period-instrument orchestra Barucco, recreationBAROCK under Jordi Savall and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg under Antonello Manacorda.
As a member of the ensemble Verbotene Frucht (Forbidden Fruit), which offers multi-faceted sound-painting through its combination of voice, violin, cello and harpsichord, he released his award-winning first album Morbides mit Charakter in 2018, and the follow-up, Liebe auf den ersten Schluck, was released in 2022.
His artistic work is documented on numerous other audio and video recordings. His first solo CD, Sapperlot!, was released by Carpe Diem Records in November 2022 and was enthusiastically received by the music world. His most recent recording with Georg Nigl for Alpha Classics was released in July 2015 under the title Mozart’s Clavichord.
An enthusiastic pedagogue, since 2018 he has been teaching clavichord, historical basso continuo, literature studies and historical language forms at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz.
Alexander Gergelyfi studied historical keyboard instruments and early music performance practice in Linz, Graz, Strasbourg and Hamburg. His professors included August Humer, Brett Leighton, Eva Maria Pollerus, Michael Hell, Aline Zylberajch, Menno van Delft and Gerhart Darmstadt.
