Samson Tsoy to perform at Aldeburgh Festival

Pianist Samson Tsoy will perform in three concerts at this year’s Aldeburgh Festival, the iconic summer music festival set up by Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears and Eric Crozier in Suffolk.

Bach on Two Pianos

Saturday 17 June, 11am
Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall

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In the intimacy of Aldeburgh’s Jubilee Hall, virtuosic duo Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy play music by Bach in Kurtág’s enigmatic arrangements for four hands.

In this recital, centre stage is given to György Kurtág’s enigmatic arrangements of Bach chorales. Miraculously, in these faithful reproductions of Bach’s text, the voice of Kurtág is heard all the more distinctly; it’s a different kind of dialogue which allows two powerful artistic voices to merge completely through sophisticated alchemy.

As preferred by Kurtág and his duo partner, his late wife Márta, the Bach arrangements will be performed on two upright pianos. They will be interspersed with Kurtág’s own pieces for two and four hands. Staged in the round, you can experience the music up close in this historic setting.

Sinfonia of London | Scottish Ballad

Saturday 18 June, 4pm
Snape Maltings Concert Hall

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John Wilson’s hand-picked “super orchestra” unites with virtuosic piano duo Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy for this rare opportunity to hear Britten’s Scottish Ballad. Also including British orchestral favourites by Delius and Walton, plus Elgar’s radiant Symphony No.2.

The Sinfonia of London include a significant number of principals and leaders from other UK and international orchestras, alongside notable soloists and members of distinguished chamber groups. This evening they are joined by Samson Tsoy and Aldeburgh Festival featured artist Pavel Kolesnikov.

Join us in Snape Maltings Concert Hall for this unmissable programme of music including Elgar’s Symphony No.2, one of his most heartfelt and poignant pieces: a memorial piece dedicated to the King.

Walton Scapino
Delius Summer Night on the River
Britten Scottish Ballad, Op.26
Elgar Symphony No.2 in E flat, Op.63

The Swan

Thursday 22 June, 8.30pm
Blythburgh Church

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In the twilight at Blythburgh Church, pianists Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy play an atmospheric programme inspired by the unique location and its cherished sunsets, including Rachmaninoff, Schubert and the world premiere of a new commission by Leonid Desyatnikov.

To Pavel Kolesnikov, Blythburgh Church floats in the landscape like a swan. This incredible venue inspired the tone and title of the programme, as Pavel explains: “Samson and I are sensitive to a place’s energies and believe the setting is a crucial collaborator in music-making. For this outstanding, outlandish place we envisioned this programme that gently and insistently mixes times and narratives – a kind of a melancholic rite, a meditation on the tender ebb and flow of time, an homage to that surreal swan floating over the marshes and to the constellation of Cygnus above it.”

This unforgettable programme will transport you from evening to night through the mesmerising playing of Samson Tsoy and Aldeburgh Festival featured artist Pavel Kolesnikov – a must-see.

Schubert Selection of Sonata movements and Ländlers for solo piano (played on two pianos, as a dialogue)
Leonid Desyatnikov Trompe-l’oeil (Britten Pears Arts commission; world premiere)
Feldman Work for Two Pianists 
Rachmaninoff Barcarolle from Suite No.1 in G minor for two pianos, Op.5
Desyatnikov Du côté de chez Swan 
Schubert Fantasie in F minor, D.940