A glorious evening of stunning classical music, magnificently played by Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason. The cellist Sheku and pianist Isata are amongst the most highly regarded of our young classical musicians – performing regularly at the Proms and in the world’s top venues. They are on an international tour for the rest of the year, on this occasion performing as part of noisenights’ ‘Through the Noise’. Noisenights are innovative classical ‘crowdfunded gigs, taking world leading musicians to iconic independent venues’. This aim aligns with Sheku’s own mission ‘to make music accessible to all, whether that’s performing for children in a school hall, at an underground club, or in the world’s leading concert venues’. The siblings’ enjoyment of the music and total absorption in it is clear to see – and hear. The sound Sheku coaxes from his cello (a Matteo Goffriller cello from 1700) were sublime – from the heartbreaking to the funky.
The understanding and affection between the brother and sister was charming to see – in introducing the first piece, Sheku noted that Mendelssohn wrote it for his sister ‘which is nicer than anything I’ve done for my sister’, at which Isata grinned.
On this occasion the tour venue is the Peddler Warehouse, in the industrial Kelham Island area of Sheffield. The Warehouse is a large, open space, with no airs and graces, and a standing capacity of 800. The sell out audience are dressed for a football match, with sensible shoes and puffa jackets, and yet the focal point of the stage is a magnificent, black grand piano and the music is as elegant as it comes. (We are told by a very enthusiastic host, that a robot truck lifted the £300,000 piano into place on the stage earlier that day.)
The hour-long performance comprises four pieces: the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Sonata for Cello and Piano; The Swan from Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals; Rachmaninoff’s The Muse; and all four movements of the Sonata for Cello and Piano by Shostakovich.
To play top quality classical music in a wintry, cavernous warehouse is a brave move – let alone an entire Shostakovich Sonata – and yet the evening’s programme works perfectly, thanks to the virtuosity of both siblings and their understated, warm and humble style.
The encore is Sheku’s own arrangement of In the Bleak Midwinter, which starts simply and recognisably, and then with each verse, takes us on an adventure of musical styles, before returning to the tune that we all know and love. A fitting, light-hearted and topical end to a wonderful evening.
Reviewed on 29 November 2024
