Aldeburgh Festival to feature Pavel Kolesnikov and Alexander Polzin

This summer's Aldeburgh Festival presents Pavel Kolesnikov as a featured artist as well as the UK premiere of The Art of Being Human, a Maestro Arts project with artwork by Alexander Polzin. The festival runs from 9 to 25 June.

Kolesnikov gives seven concerts across the festival, his programme choices reflecting his broad interests, including visual art and unusual repertoire. His first performance, Celestial Navigation (10 June), is a homage to artist Joseph Cornell, who was fascinated by astronomy, with works by Messiaen, Chopin, Couperin, Schubert and Thomas Adès accompanied by special projections and lighting.

Kolesnikov performs Bach’s Goldberg Variations on 16 June – he recently recorded them for Hyperion and tours them with dancer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. With his partner Samson Tsoy he gives two recitals, of Bach and Shostakovich (12 June) and Kurtág’s arrangements of Bach (17 June). The duo performs Britten’s rarely heard Scottish Ballad with John Wilson’s Sinfonia of London on 18 June and gives a sunset-themed programme at twilight on 22 June that includes the world premiere of Tromp l’oeil by Leonid Desyatnikov.

Alongside the Britten Sinfonia, Kolesnikov performs three concertos on the last day of the festival (25 June): Britten’s Young Apollo, Mozart’s Piano Concerto no.9 and Arvo Pärt’s Lamentate, a homage to artist Anish Kapoor.

The festival also stages the UK premiere of The Art of Being Human, a Maestro Arts project, with sculptures by Alexander Polzin. The piece juxtaposes early music, performed by Phantasm, dance and visual art to explore the nature of human relationships. It has its world premiere at the Boulez Saal, Berlin, in March 2023.

Earlier in the Britten Pears Arts season, Elena Urioste gives a masterclass for the Young Artist Programme on 11 February and takes part in a concert with students the next day.

Find out more about the Aldeburgh Festival here.