Fantasie
Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor; Nocturnes Nos 7 & 8; Debussy: La fille aux cheveux de lin; Bruyères; Scriabin: Preludes, Op. 11 Nos 1 & 2; Piano Sonata No. 2; plus works by Bonds, Price and Still
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason (piano)
Sony Classical 19802889462 72:50 mins
While the Kanneh-Mason family has an extensive shared discography, this is the first solo offering from Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, the fifth in the seven-sibling chart-topping family. She wanted to open with a significant work, so has waited until she felt able to tackle Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor – and the time and consideration she has given this work is clear.
The turbulent opening movement is tackled with great lightness of touch: the dramatic shifts in mood are carefully and thoughtfully done, never feeling heavy handed. Another Chopin work follows, this time his Nocturnes, which showcase Kanneh-Mason’s poetic style and technical skill in approaching the challenging voicing of melodic lines.
At the heart of the album lie three works by three African American composers, beginning with a fantasy by Florence Price – an inevitable choice perhaps, following her assured performance of Price’s Piano Concerto at her 2021 Proms debut. As in the Nocturnes, Kanneh-Mason never takes a musical idea and beats you around the head with it: if anything, it feels improvised and throwaway. It’s refreshing to have a young musician not deliver something in a way that feels overdeveloped and laboured.
This continues in the final act, with Preludes by Debussy and Scriabin. Kanneh-Mason cranks the piano open here, with an almost painterly style of expression. Scriabin’s Sonata No. 2 closes proceedings, with its gloriously turbulent Presto. A confident offering here – exciting to see where she takes us next.
At this point, it feels almost trite to feature another Kanneh-Mason as a ‘promising young talent’, but they’re undeniably doing something very right…
