Review: “Mendelssohn” – Isata Kanneh-Mason

As with Isata Kanneh-Mason’s previous albums, which focus on a single theme or composer, this new album centers around Felix Mendelssohn and his sister-composer Fanny. There are the popular works like Felix’s G minor Piano Concerto, alongside lesser-known gems like Fanny’s long-lost Easter Sonata.

The G minor Piano Concerto gets right off to the races with its brisk tempo: Kanneh-Mason and the London Mozart players under Jonathan Bloxham emphasize the “con fuoco” element of the first movement. While the thundering bass and emphatic accents are catchy, attentive listeners will notice some precision issues in the ensemble’s fast passagework. While the pianist has much less of an issue here, her driven and serious approach doesn’t quite capture the movement’s caprice. Here and throughout the concerto, there is a transparency that created by the cautious use of pedal and the orchestra’s classical (Mozartian?) approach. Martin Helmchem, in his Pentatone recording with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic & Philippe Herreweghe, scales back just a bit on the ferocity, but with more acrobatic grace.

The Andante (track 2) is somewhat of a mixed bag; lovely in the moments that call for resonance and richness of tone, yet missing tenderness and fluidity in the intimate moments. Kanneh-Mason can (and does) create beautiful shades of piano throughout, but her phrasing (and the ensemble’s, for that matter) comes off a bit square and predictable. Lars Vogt, in his account with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris (reviewed here) gives us a more organic ebb-and-flow: the more urgent sections push forward just insistently enough, and the performers let Mendelssohn’s beautiful melodies sink in.

The other larger-form work on the program is Fanny Mendelssohn’s Easter Sonata, which she wrote at 22 and which, for some time, was mistaken as her brother’s work. Nearly 200 years after its composition, and thanks to the efforts of musicologist Angela R. Mace, the sonata has been properly attributed to its rightful author. This musical detective work is presented in the documentary “Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn”, which starts Kanneh-Mason.

The calm, hymn-like approach Kanneh-Mason takes at the start of the Allegro Assai (track 10) belies the musical and emotional complexities that follow. Alas, if only she continued the dynamic narrative that unfolds. She clearly brings out the composer’s masterful contrapuntal writing and varied textures, but in the slow movement (track 12), I wished that the individuality of each theme could be better conveyed. The Scherzo (track 12) is appropriately elegant and playful, though shorter staccatos might truly evoke its playfulness; the drama of the finale (track 13) is dampened by a somewhat even-keeled approach. The fervent energy we heard in the concerto’s finale would certainly do here.

As for the shorter works, aside from several of Felix’s Songs Without Words and Fanny’s Nocturne in G minor, Kanneh-Mason interestingly includes selections by other composers inspired by the Mendelssohns. One is Rachmaninoff’s transcription of the Scherzo from the Midsummer Night’s Dream (track 4): here, Kanneh-Mason integrates virtuosity with detail. The pristine playing is what gives even the denser sections the airiness and whimsy central to the Scherzo’s character. Moszkowski’s transcription of the Nocturne (track 5) is beautifully voiced and through the subtleties emerges a lovely warmth.

Kanneh-Mason shows familiarity and comfort with even the most challenging works on this album; I only wish the vibrancy could have better reflected the variety of the programming. Still, the album might offer a point of interest for the lesser-known selections.

Image: Karolina Wielocha

Recommended Comparisons (Concerto):

Perahia | Hough | Lang Lang | Vogt

“Mendelssohn”
Felix Mendelssohn – Piano Concerto, Songs Without Words, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Arr. Rachmaninoff)
Fanny Mendelssohn – Easter Sonata, Notturno
Isata Kanneh-Mason – Piano
London Mozart Players
Jonathan Bloxham – Conductor

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