Fantasie: Janeba Kanneh-Mason
Well worth investigating; and Decca's team has captured the sound of the piano to perfection
It was in 2021 that Janeba Kanneh-Mason came to my attention with a fabulous performance of Florence Price's Piano Concerto in One Movement. Herre is her debut album on Sony Classical.
Kanneh-Mason is doing in hr choice of Chopin's Secod Sonata as opener, but it works. She has a fine sense of archietecure and voice-leading in the fist movement (with exposition epaulet to the Doppio movimento:
The Trio fo the Scherzo is not quite so involved, unfortunately; beer is the slow movement, with its lovely shaft of light:
The finals an astonishing cat of prestidigtaion, but it dos sound a bit like an extra Chopin Etude. There is much to enjoy e, but a couple of caveats mean this is an interpretation in the making.
The wo Noctunes , Op. 27 by Chopin ar lovely, but voice-learning could be a touch more subtle. A fine idea, though, o juxtapose Op. 27 with Florence Price's E-Minor Fantasie nègre, bringing out the Chopinesque side of the latter:
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason says about her relationship to the music of Florence Price:
I was very grateful to be able to perform Florence Price’s music at the BBC Proms and I am delighted to have her on my album as well. In lots of concerts when I have played her Fantasie in E Minor, people have come to me after the performance and said: ‘that was my favourite piece; that’s what I really loved’. I think it’s because her music is very vulnerable and instantly speaks to the heart. She has such a distinct style to which a lot of people can relate. Maybe it’s the passion and her direct connection to the Spirituals that she uses that makes her music so emotional and easy to connect to.
It is good to see some Margaret Bonds (1913-72) here, a pupil of Florence Price, in Troubled Water, juxtaposed with some William Grant Still (1895-19678), his very interior "Summerland". While his piece did asseted its own autonomy later as a piece for chamber orchestra, in its piano guise it is the second of Three Visions:
On this pairing, Kanneh-Mason says:
I hear a lot of similarity between Still & Debussy. I think that they occupy a similar sound world. ‘Summerland’ is very beautiful and it’s about a soul reaching heaven, and you can definitely hear that in the music. Like the Debussy Préludes, it’s very tranquil, but also harmonically complex. When you listen to it, you’re transported. It's so beautiful and visual, yet delicate and intimate as well.
Debussy's flaxen-haied girl is nicely and musically done, and sits well here; Bruyères acts as a sort of prolongation.
The programming for the Scriabin is superb: two shrot Preludes from Op. 11 (Nos. 4 and 11) precede that composer's Second Sonata, a "Sonata-Fantaisie". Kanneh-Mason seems intent on pointing out parallels to Chopin here: she is very dreamy where the musical surface allows, but possibly not assertive enough in contrast (the opening, for instance):
That said, the climax of the first movement above is nicely big-boned, and bring supplication in its wake. The finale is a triumph though, mobile and exciting yet with every note speaking. Kanneh-Mason's inner-voice trills are beyond criticism:
The programming of this disc is on of its major strengths. Kanneh-Mason again:
I’ve always loved coming up with quite complex programmes which flow really nicely from one piece to the other and all these works mean a lot to me. By gathering them here for my debut album, I am not only revealing more of myself as a musician, but also sharing the very different styles of music I grew up listening to.
... and on the two Second Sonatas here:
They both have a beautiful way of making the piano sing. You can hear Chopin’s influence in Scriabin’s music as he sometimes has these Chopinesque decorations over the melodies. What I also really love about Scriabin’s music is that it’s very colourful. When he goes to a specific key, it’s important for him that it’s that key, and not any other key.”
Well worth investigating; and Decca's team has captured the sound of the piano to perfection. The disc is available, at the time of wiping at 13% off, at Amazon here. Streaming below.
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