Pavel Kolesnikov

St John’s Priory, Kilkenny

★★☆☆☆

Pavel Kolesnikov follows up his involvement in the piano-duet version of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring at St John’s Priory on Friday with a solo performance of another towering masterpiece, the Goldberg Variations by Bach.

[ Samson Tsoy & Pavel Kolesnikov: Always absorbing take on Rite of Spring sounds as if it’s from a parallel universeOpens in new window ]

He is an extraordinarily resourceful keyboard player. His delivery would have you believe there’s not a colour, effect or nuance that is not at his command. He can whisper to make you lean forward in your seat, thunder to make you want to recoil. He can spin silk or cut with sound of steely sharpness, pick any note out of a flurry for either emphasis or de-emphasis, or shape runs with the effect of the blur that cartoonists are so fond of.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

[ Samson Tsoy: Clean, eager playing overlooks what’s most important in Beethoven’s final piano sonatasOpens in new window ]

It is unfortunate that he chooses to do all of this and more in the Goldberg Variations. His is a supremely egotistical approach. It speaks in detail about Kolesnikov and says far too little about Bach.