Page 691 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

Kolesnikov has recorded an album of Reynaldo Hahn’s ‘Poèmes and Valses’ on
Hyperion, so it came as no surprise that he included pieces from the
collections Le rossignol éperdu (53 poèmes for piano) and the Premières valses.
These pieces provide a straight line to Proust with whom Hahn had a romantic
relationship. It would be easy to dismiss these miniature poèmes and valses yet
Kolesnikov treats them with such care and attention revealing them as refined
and sparkling gems of the fin-de-siècle. Successfully negotiating the complexity
of Fauré’s Nocturne No.12 in E minor, Op.107 the soloist afforded plenty of
vibrancy to this splendid example. Another of my personal favourites is César
Franck’s Prélude, Choral et Fugue, Op.21 written in tribute to J.S. Bach, one of his
greatest works and one often undervalued. Shaped and paced so effectively I

felt drawn into Franck’s soundworld although I had hoped that Kolesnikov
might have given rather more weight to the chorale section.

Splitting the Schubert masterwork, the G major Sonata was not to my taste at
all, nevertheless all evening Kolesnikov was entirely engaged, playing with real
directness and vibrancy, exhibiting a wealth of sensitive touches. Such an
outstanding player Kolesnikov treated the audience to an
enjoyable encore Debussy’s popular La Cathédrale engloutie (The Sunken
Cathedral) from his first volume of Preludes.

29.7.2022 – String Quartet: Echéa String Quartet (Rosa Hartley [violin], Aliayta
Foon-Dancoes [violin], Dave Shaw [viola], Silvestrs Kalnins [cello])

My final evening concert at ‘Music at Paxton’ was given by the Echéa String
Quartet. A programme of Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert is as traditional as
one can imagine for a string quartet, yet it was undoubtedly none the worse for
that. Founded in 2017 at London’s Royal Academy of Music the Echéa Quartet
might still be described as ‘emerging’ yet it plays with a maturity beyond its
years. For the concert Quartet members Rosa Hartley and Aliayta Foon-Dancoes
(violins) and Dave Shaw (viola) were joined by cellist Silvestrs Kalnins who
stepped in to replace Eliza Millett.

The opening choice Schubert’s Quartettsatz in C minor, D.703 is a marvellous
work that I always look forward to hearing. Written just before his renowned
Quintet in A major ‘The Trout’ and shortly before the equally famous Symphony
No.8 ‘Unfinished’ the single movement Quartettsatz was intended as the first
movement Allegro assai to a full-length quartet. Why the other movements
were not written has never been confirmed. This was an engaging and assured
performance from the Echéa Quartet conveying a splendid level of drama
within the wide-ranging ideas of the C minor score. It is a curious feeling to be