‘Refined artistry and mastery‘

"[...] The choice of programme may have been a coincidence but his playing of refined aristocratic elegance was of the same musicianship of simplicity , intelligence and artistry. 
From the very first notes of the C minor nocturne there was the same unmistakable golden sound, that with his superb sense of balance resounded around this hall full of pianos and a much larger audience than usual. A glowing beauty of refined music making of the true bel canto with the same inflections as the human voice.

[...] Rubinstein was 90 and Pavle just 27 and like Rubinstein at that age could hold his public with playing of mastery and simplicity. Pavle, like Rubinstein, looks at what the composer has written on the page and does not rely on the so called Chopin tradition of distortion and vulgar crowd pleasing rubato. There is the same strength to Pavle’s playing that is of startling originality as he allows the composer to show him the way. [...]"

— Christopher Axworthy, Christopher Axworthy Music Commentary (May 17, 2025)

Photo: Cesare Guzzardella

"[...] Krstic, dal 2022 professore associato presso il Dipartimento di Musicologia dell’Università Mozarteum di Salisburgo e docente all’ArtePiano Festival in Italia dal 2023, ha dato prova di grande sensibilità interpretativa e di una tecnica raffinata. [...] Applausi calorosissimi hanno salutato la fine del concerto, cui è seguito un bis d’eccezione: la celebre Ritual Fire Dance di De Falla, resa famosa da Arthur Rubinstein ed eseguita da Krstic con grande impeto e padronanza timbrica. Brindisi finale con l’interprete, l’organizzazione e il pubblico intervenuto. [...]"

— Cesare Guzzardella, CorriereBit (May 16, 2025)

"[...] Then, as the last pianist of the first elimination day, Pavle Krstic, representing Bulgaria and Serbia, took the stage. And it was pure delight. All day, I had been longing for nocturnes. Many had been played earlier, yet their dreamlike, fairy-tale beauty had eluded me—had it been crushed under the weight of competitive pressure? Had these young artists simply failed to capture it?

Krstic began with the Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1, and immediately sent a clear message: He has his own interpretive ideas, they are well-considered, and he won’t hesitate to show them. True, for a moment, his performance of the nocturne teetered on the edge of a monumental-candyfloss confrontation—I even wondered if I’d accidentally wandered into the idyllic soundscape of Bedřich Smetana’s Má vlast. But it was just a fleeting thought. Krstic swiftly dispelled any doubts. In my opinion, this was the best-played nocturne of the day.

The same could be said for the pieces that followed. Two dynamically executed études (C major, Op. 10 No. 1 and *A-flat major, Op. 10 No. 10*), where he flirted with the limits of bravura—and finally, this was music worth hearing! This was the Chopin I had been waiting for all day. Then came the exquisitely played Mazurka in B minor, Op. 33 No. 4. He uncovered everything in it—the folk-dance motifs, the yearning-romantic threads. I was completely absorbed. He finished with a powerful accent.

The Scherzo in B minor, Op. 31 reached my ears for the third time that day—but only in Krstic’s rendition did I truly hear it. He played it as if narrating a battle between good and evil, a dialogue between God and Satan. He executed this vision masterfully, and I hope I had the pleasure of applauding him not for the last time. Speaking of applause—Pavle Krstic was met with prolonged ovations, far longer than the other pianists. But these are eliminations—no encores here. [...]"

— Jacek Mroczek, TeatrVaria (April 23, 2025)

Photo: The Keyboard Charitable Trust

"[...] This youthful work Pavle played with astonishing clarity and bravura that with some judicious cuts could grace the concert hall as a virtuoso encore piece.
It was interesting after hearing his very musicianly account of the Chopin Sonata to learn that he was using the new recommended Ekier edition where the question of the first movement repeat was swiftly resolved.
Not only was it his brilliant playing but also his very eloquent explanation that made a very persuasive case for an edition that my generation still find rather clinical and hard to accept compared to the old Paderewski Edition which is now by the Chopin National Edition to be considered obsolete! [...]"

— Christopher Axworthy, Christopher Axworthy Music Commentary (February 12, 2023)

Photo: Ouest France

 "[...] He was brilliant, judged Philippe Vert. It is the freshness of youth that has won us over. He will go very far. [...]"

— Philippe Vert, Ouest France (April 14, 2019)

"[...] The young pianist interpreted them virtuously, but gently, almost etherically, pearly, with tastefully measured rubatos and without any dynamic brutality, in wide gradation arches [...]"

— Gordana Krajačić, Književne novine (March 1, 2016)

Photo: Dragana Vlašić

"[...]And exactly that serious, thought out and dramatically worked out and musical in a measured way, stylistically appropriate interpretation, with the right rubatos and cesuras for Chopin, which breathes with delicately nuanced phrases, is a result of the individuality of the pianistic sensibility of Pavle Krstic[...]"

— Marija Adamov, Dnevnik (February 23, 2016)

"[...] we already now noticed that an artist, which shows individuality and authenticity, is before us [...]"

— Tamara Maljković, Ars sonora (February 15, 2016)

"[...]The winner was the 16 year old Serb Pavle Krstic, who performed with technical sovereignty and with brilliant and lyrical expression[...]"

— C. F. Pichler, Dolomiten (May 5, 2015)

"[...] who performs even the most demanding works with ease, composure, and high level of preparation. [...]"

— Marija Adamov, Dnevnik (May 4, 2011)