Wednesday 6 May 2026 7:30pm

Stravinsky – Rite of Spring

Schubert – Fantasie in F minor, D940

Schubert – Divertissement, D818

Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy have been living and working together ever since their early student days first in Russia and then in London. Although both have successful careers as solo pianists, their exploration of the piano duo repertoire, which intensified during the covid pandemic has gained them a wider reputation. The Guardian says of them that ‘These two listen closely, play with rare intimacy and draw us in, demanding we pay the same acute attention.’

Their debut recording together, which contains both these Schubert pieces, was released in 2024 to great acclaim. BBC Music Magazine praised them as ‘absolutely magical. The Divertissement elicits a sumptuous softness, while the Fantasie creates the impression of vast and intensely dramatic landscapes.’

They contrast this with the four-hand version of the Rite of Spring—the first version of this seminal modernist work to be published and which Stravinsky and Debussy played together shortly after the riotous Parisian premiere of the ballet.