Kolesnikov mesmerises Suffolk audience
A review of Pavlov Kolesnikov: Chopin's Nocturnes concert at Snape
By Angela Hagan
Photography © BPA
Composer Franz Liszt once described Chopin’s Nocturnes as “those hours wherein the soul, released from all the cares of the day, is lost in self-contemplation and soars toward the regions of a starlit heaven.”
His words sum up Pavel Kolesnikov’s dream-like and profound translation of Chopin’s Nocturnes this week (August 18th) in his powerful and intimate performance at Snape Maltings Concert Hall.
Though Chopin (1810-1849) is revered as the supreme composer of piano nocturnes, the title was actually introduced by Dublin composer, John Field (1782-1837) who established this dream-like, vocal-free style of melody. The title Nocturnes, also reflects a deep artistic pull toward night secrets tapping into that primeval fear of, and fascination with, the darkness.
From the moment Pavel Kolesnikov walked onto stage and took his seat, a seemingly shy young pianist with a mop of curly hair and an almost ethereal presence, the audience was entranced.
Moments of the wispiest vulnerability giving way, without warning, to a power that only genius can muster. His touch is butterfly-light, barely settling on the keys before lifting away again, and he uses the silence between notes almost as deliberately as the notes themselves - holding it a beat longer than expected, building drama out of what isn't played as much as what is.
Born in Novosibirsk in Russia, Pavel at just 37, is without doubt one of the greatest young pianists of our times. He began studying piano and violin simultaneously at the age of six - a grounding that might explain the singing, string-like line he draws from Chopin, even at the quietest dynamics.
The London-based pianist devoted this whole magical whole evening to Chopin's complete Nocturnes, threaded across three sections - Dreams, Memories, Visions - with two intervals to reset the trance. From the first notes of Op. 9 No. 1 in B flat minor, this was clearly an exercise in restraint rather than display: melodies emerged as if from a distance, hushed and confiding, drawing the audience towards the stage rather than pinning them back in their seats.
Between phrases his hands would rise gracefully rise into the air above the piano, held for a moment, then down to the keys like a butterfly upon a flower.
The whole concert was meditative and deeply absorbing – a mesmeric journey into that shadowy boundary of consciousness. It was profoundly relaxing.
What lingers is less any single Nocturne than the atmosphere Kolesnikov built across all twenty: a private musician inviting a packed hall into his confidence, one hushed phrase at a time.
By the close, Snape Maltings Concert Hall sat in the kind of silence that can be interpreted as its own standing ovation before the rapturous applause even began.
* Pavel Kolesnikov performed Chopin's Complete Nocturnes at Snape Maltings Concert Hall on Tuesday 18 August, as part of Summer at Snape 2026.
For details of other concerts at this wonderful venue visit, www.brittenpearsarts.org
