An album abounding in fearless musicianship
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS
The Strad Issue: July 2025
Description: An album abounding in fearless musicianship
Musicians: Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello) Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano) Sinfonia of London/John Wilson
Works: Britten: Cello Sonata. Shostakovich: Cello Concerto no.2; Cello Sonata
Catalogue number: Decca 4870835D
Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s debut album was centred around Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto. Now he returns with the more elusive Second, in a blistering account with the Sinfonia of London.
After the ominously brooding opening, Kanneh-Mason is not afraid to stay within the orchestral texture until his line gradually emerges into the light. His restraint here and in the eerie recurring high double-stopped motif is cut loose later in the forceful duet between cello and bass drum.
In the Allegretto, following some rather too polite glissandos, the nightmarish quality soon kicks in, leaving the listener reeling by the end. After an impassioned cadenza with immaculate falling octaves, Kanneh-Mason finds space for deep introspection and tenderness amidst the brassy brashness of the third movement. Balance throughout is excellent, with the orchestral colours vividly captured.
The two sonatas were recorded at Snape Maltings, where the Britten was premiered in 1961. Kanneh-Mason talks of the concert hall’s ‘perfect acoustic’ and there are certainly tiny details, such as the sliding harmonics in Shostakovich’s frenetic second-movement Allegro and the intricate range of pizzicatos in Britten’s Scherzo, which are captured here extraordinarily well. Sheku and his sister Isata find a heartwarming lyricism in the Shostakovich’s first movement and an almost supernatural quality in Britten’s Marcia.
JANET BANKS
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