CD REVIEW - MENDELSSOHN
ISATA KANNEH-MASON
Decca 487 0256 [65:19]

In a review here of Mendelssohn Overtures some years ago, our esteemed editor marvelled at the composer's "prodigious talents". Now we have further examples of this in the latest album from the much-in-demand pianist, who is still in her twenties and already has four albums to her name (including one shared with her cello playing brother, Sheku).

The sparkling Piano Concerto No.1, at a tad under 20 minutes, was written in Rome about the same time as the German composer's popular Symphony No.4 (The Italian). Kanneh-Mason is accompanied by the London Mozart Players under Jonathan Bloxham, their Conductor in Residence and Artistic Advisor. The recording was made at St John’s Smith Square in London.

All beautifully played, the first of five works for solo piano that complete the album are the Scherzo and Nocturne from Felix Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' – also known for its famous Wedding March – transcribed for the instrument by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Moritz Moszkowski respectively.

These are followed by Franz Liszt's arrangement of Felix's 'On Wing’s of Song', which is probably the best known of the 100 or so songs he wrote. And then there are two of his 48 'Songs Without Words': Illusions and Cradle Song.

The last two works, are not by Felix but by his underrated four years older sister, Fanny Hensel, née Mendelssohn (1806-47). The attractive Nocturne, written with thoughts of visiting Venice, is followed by the 23-minute world premiere recording of her Easter Sonata, which had been lost for 150 years and first came to light in 1972, although it wasn't until 2012 that it was recognised as the work of the 22-year-old Fanny. Kanneh-Mason was the first artist to perform it attributed to the correct composer.

The Friary, Liverpool, was the recording venue this April for the solo piano works. There are supportive liner notes by Claire Jackson, who writes about classical music, opera, the arts and animals, and has a column in The Big Issue.

Kanneh-Mason has topped the classical chart with two of her albums. I wonder what the chances are of this release making a third?

© Peter Burt, August 2024

Tony Clayden adds: Felix was devoted to his elder sister Fanny, who died of a stroke aged only 41. It is widely believed that the shock of her death hastened his own demise – from the same cause – and he passed away only a few months later in 1847.

Felix arranged to publish a number of Fanny's compositions under his own name, because he felt that they would become more successful, given the antipathy to women composers at that time. In recent years, there has been a considerable resurgence of interest in the works of female composers, including Fanny and her friend Clara Schumann, wife of the composer Robert Schumann.