2 hours ago
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The second recording from the massed Kanneh-Masons is a family scrapbook. In the first half, all seven of these teen-and-twentysomething siblings get their moment: on the piano, Isata plays some contemplative Liszt and Jeneba plays Chopin; Sheku and his cellist sister Mariatu duet smoothly in Handel; violinists Braimah and Aminata are paired for a Welsh folk tune; pianist Konya accompanies Braimah in Elgar’s Sospiri; and so on. It’s also a tribute to their grandparents’ heritage, their Welsh grandmother getting the biggest musical nod with two folk song arrangements plus Hiraeth, a sweetly yearning original composition by Isata for all seven players. Nothing is mawkish or over milked, yet everything feels a little like a final encore, sending us out misty-eyed.
The second half is taken up by an old family favourite, Schubert’s Trout Quintet. Here Isata, Sheku and Braimah are joined by their friends Edgar Francis and Toby Hughes, on viola and bass, for a performance that’s occasionally sparky but mostly gentle and a little monochrome. It doesn’t match up to some stiff recorded competition – but perhaps that’s not really the point. River of Music reinforces the Kanneh-Masons’ inspiring brand, but maybe next time they will give us something a bit more ambitious.
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