Sheku Kanneh-Mason makes an outstanding Enescu Festival debut

For their second consecutive night at the Enescu Festival, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra invited the distinguished Romanian conductor Cristian Mandeal, a musician with a wide variety of musical interests. The performance was entirely dedicated to 20th-century works from Central and Eastern Europe, albeit nothing too radical. 

The highlight was undoubtedly Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto no. 1 in E flat major, brilliantly performed by Sheku Kanneh-Mason. This particular piece holds a special place in the young cellist's heart; performing it in 2016 not only earned him the prestigious BBC Young Musician Award, but also marked the beginning of his remarkable career. From the outset, Kanneh-Mason immersed himself in playing the initial D-S-C-H motif variant with immense energy and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, his zeal and passion did not easily spread. Despite the soloist’s efforts to engage them, some members of the orchestra were anchored in froideur. Dialogues between the cello and celesta or various woodwinds appeared rather one-sided; only the horn player seemed more involved. 

Furthermore, Mandeal’s attempts to emphasise the music’s vacillation between despair and grittiness often fell short, although the technical aspects of the orchestral performance remained commendable. Nevertheless, Kanneh-Mason did not seem discouraged at any point. He continued to play with great subtlety and singing beauty, his “voice” never coarse, even when used at full force. The richness of his tone was truly amazing. Tying together the entire work, the 148-bar-long cadenza progressed seamlessly from sombre contemplation to frantic frenzy, imbued with a profound depth of expression. Kanneh-Mason concluded his performance with just a brief yet charming encore, a Melody of his own composition evoking the essence of a Renaissance tune played on a viola da gamba.

The first piece on the programme was Kodály’s Dances of Galánta. One would have anticipated that interpreting music heavily influenced by the folklore of their native land would ignite more enthusiasm from the Hungarian ensemble. The conductor was the one sketching dance steps on the podium (as he later did in Brahms’ Hungarian Dance no. 1, played as an encore), rather than the members of the orchestra “swaying” during the syncopated sections of the traditional verbunkos-influenced music! Having a sharp ear for the rhythmic vitality and instrumental colour of this music, Mandeal pointed how themes seamlessly traverse the boundaries between different dances. The clarinet, skilfully played by József Tönköly, beautifully emulated the traditional tárogató with its plaintive yet penetrating sound.

Enescu's Symphony no. 2 in A major is another instance of a score abandoned for decades, with the composer intending to revise it, but never quite reaching that point. It was only revived and gained attention after his death. Mandeal, a highly regarded expert in interpreting Enescu, seemed more focused on bringing out details than on clarifying the structure of the three variants of the sonata-allegro form represented in the three movements. He stressed the Straussian soundscape (at times appearing to foreshadow the lush orchestration of Die Frau ohne Schatten), the intricate interplay between woodwinds and strings in the second movement, or the subtle yet numerous shifts in colour throughout the third. At the same time, he strove to infuse a sense of direction into a composition rich with beautiful thematic cells, aspiring to prevent any impression of aimless wandering. The orchestra displayed a keen interest in this unfamiliar score, diligently following Mandeal’s direction.