Household names at the Barbican: Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason

By Zoltán Szabó, 12 July 2021

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“an excellent performance appearing focussed and relaxed in their collaborative music making”

Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 4 July 2021

Bridge, Cello Sonata in D minor, H.125

Britten, Tema Sacher

Rachmaninov, The Muse, Op.34 no.1

Rachmaninov, It cannot be, Op.34 no.7

Bridge, Spring Song

Bridge, Mélodie in C sharp minor, for cello and piano

Britten, Cello Sonata in C major, Op.65

Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Cello

Isata Kanneh-Mason, Piano

Exciting but inconsistent playing from the EUYO at Carnegie Hall

Cameron Kelsall, 6th August

Under Iván Fischer's direction, Mahler's First Symphony is notable more for bombastic passion than subtle artistry.

***11

The Kanneh-Masons and friends at the Aldeburgh Festival

Roy Westbrook, 21st June

Some chamber concerts, like this one at Snape Maltings, can turn a public hall into a large drawing room.

***11

Expressive, virtuosic cello sonatas from Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason

Nick Boston, 28th May

An impressive evening at the Barbican from two rapidly maturing performers, unafraid to bring chamber music to audiences more familiar with standard virtuosic concerto displays.

****1

Isata Kanneh-Mason makes a glittering Proms debut in Prokofiev

Dominic Lowe, 1st August

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Ryan Bancroft joined Kanneh-Mason as she tackled Prokofiev's most popular piano concerto with easy dexterity, then delivering a powerful performance of Tchaikovsky.

***11

Colour and thrills from Hindoyan, Kanneh-Mason and the RLPO

Peter Connors, 27th April

Isata Kanneh-Mason thrills with sparking fingerwork in Prokofiev, while the RLPO and Domingo Hindoyan are just as dazzling in Falla and Stravinsky.

****1

Hiding in plain sight: Ilan Volkov steals the show at Symphony Hall

Simon Cummings, 22nd February

A self-effacing, literal approach from conductor Ilan Volkov brings marvellous transparency to works by Sibelius and Prokofiev, while highlighting the flaws in a new work by Freya Waley-Cohen.

****1

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Zoltán Szabó

Zoltán Szabó is a cellist and musicologist. Having migrated from his native Hungary to Australia in 1985, he worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Sydney until 1991, when he became Principal Cello with Opera Australia. In 2017, he was awarded with a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD). Currently, he is teaching music history and musicology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Household names at Barbican Hall: Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason