Between 1994 and 1996, Botvinov lived in
Düsseldorf, where the premiere of a ballet based on
Robert Schumann's
Kinderszenen marked the beginning of his fruitful collaboration with the renowned Swiss choreographer
Heinz Spoerli. Since 1996, he has combined an active touring career with the role of a guest soloist-pianist at the
Zurich Ballet. Botvinov has consistently performed in Spoerli's ballet productions, playing music by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Frédéric Chopin,
Johannes Brahms,
Sergei Prokofiev,
Igor Stravinsky,
Alexander Scriabin,
Alfred Schnittke, and others. Since 1995, he has performed the
Goldberg Variations by
Johann Sebastian Bach, which became a signature piece for Spoerli's company and led to performances across nearly all of Europe, as well as in Canada, Japan, Israel, and South Africa. Since 2001, the
Goldberg Variations have been a permanent part of the repertoire of the
Deutsche Oper Berlin. Botvinov's premiere performance of the piece in June 2001 was a sensation, earning high praise from the German press ("A fireworks display at the piano" – Berliner Kurier; "Botvinov is a stroke of luck for the Deutsche Oper" – Tagesspiegel). In 1996, a CD of the
Goldberg Variations was released in Switzerland, immediately reaching second place on the classical music charts ("Superb recording!" – Le Figaro, Paris). Subsequent recordings by Botvinov were reviewed by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung: his
Chopin was described as "incredibly beautiful," and his
Brahms as "surprising in their unconventionality but convincing in every detail." Additional recordings in Switzerland include works by
Sergei Rachmaninoff, as well as concertos by Bach and
Mozart (a live recording with the
Prague Philharmonic). Botvinov has performed at numerous music festivals, including the Chopin Festival in
Poland and the Festspiel in
Zurich. In 2002, he served as a jury member at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Poland. In August 2003, he was the "Artist in Residence" at the 15th International Festival in Murten, Switzerland, where he performed six concerts, both solo and with orchestras. In October 2008, Botvinov initiated and realized a new project—a multimedia concert titled "Visual Reality of Music"—combining classical music with video installations in collaboration with the VJ group Videomatics. The European premiere took place with great success at the Odesa Philharmonic, featuring works by Bach, Rachmaninoff,
Alexander Scriabin,
Alemdar Karamanov, and
Jan Freidlin. Beyond its artistic goals, the project has significant educational value, using the synthesis of music and visuals to engage audiences accustomed to the dynamic visual forms of television and computer screens. In 2009, the project was presented with immense success at the
Moscow International House of Music, and an open-air concert on Sofia Square in
Kyiv attracted around 5,000 spectators. In November 2008, in
Saint Petersburg, Botvinov, together with art historian, educator, violinist, and Nobel Concert expert
Mikhail Kazinik, continued work on the largest publicistic television project in Russian history,
Free Flight, at Igor Shadkhan's television studio. The 56 films of this series were broadcast on the channels
TV Center and TVCI, covering hundreds of musical works composed over the past three centuries. In November 2008, on the Russian radio station
Orpheus, Botvinov and Kazinik began a joint program series titled
Ad Libitum, or in Free Flight, where they analyzed music from various eras and styles in a 30-minute non-stop dialogue format each week. From August 2009 to May 2010, Botvinov served on a voluntary basis as the artistic director of the
Odesa National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet. During this period, the theater hosted two premieres that became notable cultural events in Ukraine: the ballet "Nureyev Forever" and the opera "Turandot." A groundbreaking project for the classical music world, "Goldberg. Reloaded," combines the pinnacle of European music—Bach's
Goldberg Variations—with oriental rhythms by renowned Turkish percussionist , rooted in ancient Sufi traditions. The European premiere of "Reloaded" was a great success at the Svetlanovsky Hall of the
Moscow International House of Music on September 19, 2011. Subsequent performances took place in Paris, Zurich, Basel, the
Montreux Jazz Festival, the opening of the
Istanbul International Film Festival, the National Philharmonic of Ukraine in Kyiv, the Odesa Regional Philharmonic, and the
Akkerman Fortress. The theatrical-musical project "Letter Writer. Elegy," created in 2011 based on Mikhail Shishkin's novel
Letter Writer, marked Botvinov's directorial debut. He also authored the play and handled the set design. The project caused a sensation in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and was performed multiple times with great success on the Odesa stage. In December 2012, the German-language version of the play premiered in Zurich with great success. Botvinov is the creator, artistic director, and main organizer of the International Music Festival "Odessa Classics," held annually in early June since 2015 in Odessa. In 2018, in honor of his first piano teacher, he founded the annual All-Ukrainian Young Pianists Competition named after
Serafima Mogilevskaya. In 2021–2023, together with
Daniel Hope, he released the CDs "SCHNITTKE Works for Violin and Piano", «MUSIC FOR UKRAINE», «VALENTIN SILVESTROV» and «MUSIC FOR A NEW CENTURY» on the
Deutsche Grammophon label. In January–February 2022, Alexey Botvinov participated in the International Music Festival "MustonenFest," scheduled to take place in
Tallinn, Estonia. The festival began on January 27, with the Odesa native's concert scheduled for February 2, 2022. == Teachers ==