Tuesday evening’s concert at Salle Bourgie was nothing short of exhilarating. Isata Kanneh-Mason was in town and treated the audience to a remarkably well-constructed and, above all, virtuoso program.
Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, born in 1996, enjoys a well-deserved international reputation. Her stage presence is mesmerizing. The eyes of the entire audience are riveted on her, as she soaks up the music she sees flashing through her mind. Because yes, one of the highlights of the concert was the fact that she played all four works, some 1h30 of them, almost completely by heart! She not only mastered the scores, but also the particular rhythms of the pieces, especially the Chopin in the last part, and seemed to vibrate, almost dancing to the rhythm of the bars. She also demonstrated solid concentration throughout the concert, ignoring the distractions and pitfalls of the scores. She excelled in conveying the emotions and intensity of the program.
A trend, or rather a thread, ran through the entire program. The works, in chronological order, told the story of Romanticism. Starting with Haydn’s Piano Sonata No. 60 (1794-1795), we could hear the first traces. A rather late work, probably composed for the pianoforte, the forerunner of the modern piano, the humour and quality of the themes are typical of Haydn’s pen. The chromaticism in the second movement, which evolves into a scale that seems to disappear into the mist, is noteworthy and delicately realized. The second work, Fanny Mendelssohn’s Ostersonate (1828), is fully Romantic, with a great breadth of movement and intensity that captivates the listener. The canon in the second movement is delightful, underlining the clarity of the voices both in the score and in the pianist’s playing.
The second part somewhat echoes the first, with a brighter piece followed by a more eventful one. Robert Schumann’s Kinderszenen (1838) is a sequence of fairly simple themes that evoke images of a child’s life. Their joys, dreams, fears, anxieties and so on. Taking the form of a story, perhaps a lullaby, one is almost tempted to fall asleep with the child after the poet’s conclusion. The final work was Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 3 (1844). Here, Kanneh-Mason had the opportunity to demonstrate all her expertise, all her mastery of the repertoire, and all her virtuosity through the deluge of notes, the volcanic climbs and delicate descents that painted a delicious musical landscape. The voices that appeared and seemed to disappear as if by magic kept the attention of the already satisfied audience, and the particular rhythms of the last movement were more than intriguing. Once again, we could feel how dear this music seemed to the pianist. She repaid the audience’s warm welcome with a short encore, an etude by Chopin (him again!), which was utterly majestic.
Salle Bourgie has once again spoiled its audience with a world-renowned artist who brought the repertoire and the program to life. No doubt many listeners will see these works differently after hearing Isata Kanneh-Mason’s interpretation.
