Music to my ears
What the classical world has been listening to this month
Sheku Kanneh-mason Cellist I’ve been listening to a lot of Schubert string quartets, and particularly the last one, No. 15 in G major. It’s an amazing quartet. What is particularly effective is the way Schubert switches rapidly between major and minor keys, going from really bright to very dark – at this late point in his life, that’s quite significant. I’ve listened to a few recordings of it, and while there’s not one in particular that I prefer, I do tend to lean towards some of the older ones.
Elgar’s Cello Concerto has been one of my favourite pieces ever since I first took an interest in the instrument aged three or four. Jacqueline du Pré’s famous recording of it is the one I’m most familiar with, but I’ve also been listening to some of the first recordings of it ever made, such as Beatrice Harrison’s conducted by Elgar himself. Compared to Du Pré, what’s really interesting about it is just how beautifully simply – almost matter-of-fact – the theme is presented in the first movement.
I really enjoy Rachmaninov’s earlier works, written while he was still in Russia – they display pure emotion, whereas some of his later music can be a lot more showy. Of his Op. 39 Etudes-tableaux,
No. 9 in E flat minor is especially wonderful, and I’ve been revelling in Vladimir Ashkenazy’s recording of it. This piece really captures the essence of E flat minor, as there is such a dark intensity to it, and there are so many voices going on at the same time.
Another early Rachmaninov work which has recently become one of my favourite pieces is his Trio élégiaque No. 2 in D minor – there’s a great recording of it on Youtube by the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, violinist Mikhail Vaiman and pianist Pavel Serebryakov. What makes this performance so gripping is the way the players, and Rostropovich in particular, manage to sustain Rachmaninov’s lines that seem to go on for ever.
Kanneh-mason’s new album ‘Inspiration’ is reviewed next month
Ruby Hughes Soprano
Just after my son Django was born, I travelled to Hanover to perform Bach’s Magnificat with the NDR Radio Philharmonic under Andrew Manze, and in the same concert they played Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, which was mind-blowing. Andrew is one of the kindest conductors I’ve ever worked with. It was so moving because it was the first performance I’d done since giving birth, so I think my senses were heightened, and the piece reminds me of that time.
I heard Purcell’s Hear My
Prayer on the radio recently, and loved its blissful counterpoint and crunchy harmonies. Although it’s about weeping and the release of emotion, it also feels uplifting as is so lyrical. The music ebbs and flows and, in the way Purcell has phrased the counterpoint, you can imagine the sun rising.
The countertenor Andreas Scholl is one of my heroes. I absolutely love his interpretations, and he creates an amazing feeling of space. There’s a clarity to his voice which is really pure but also very grounded. His rendition of Bach’s cantata Widerstehe doch der
Schubert switches rapidly between major and minor keys, going from dark to light
Sünde is one of my favourites – it’s like a kind of Baroque tango, and although it’s classical, it feels like it could belong to another genre in another life.
Through my husband David I discovered an artist called Connan Mockasin, a singersongwriter who fits into the genre of psychedelic pop. I love his album Forever Dolphin Love, because it’s got such an unusual recording style – it sounds like it’s been recorded in analogue and has a vintage feel to it. He’s very experimental in using electronic filters on his voice and is an amazing virtuoso guitarist. His music has a real funk vibe to it. Ruby Hughes’s ‘Guilia Frasi, lyric music of the Baroque’ will be reviewed in a future issue
Jonathon Heyward Conductor With its incredibly long first and third movements, Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony is a mammoth of a work and as a conductor one has to think about the trajectory of the entire piece – you have to see where he’s taking us. In his recording with the WDR Sinfonie
Orchester Köln, Semyon Bychkov achieves this. Through Bychkov’s overall pacing, the listener really understands the symphony’s huge scope and by the end of the third movement, that eerie slow coda feels somehow deserved.
Whenever I go to hear the London Symphony Orchestra, what sticks out for me is the lush sound of the string section and the way that they breathe unanimously together. That’s one reason why I’ve been focussing a lot on the LSO’S recording of Rachmaninov’s Third Symphony under Valery Gergiev. Because it is a relatively straightforward work, nuances such as that string sound can be brought out a bit more and one can be a bit more self-indulgent – Gergiev’s interpretation highlights that.
The sound of Elgar is, I believe, woven into the fabric of the Hallé. I love its recording of the Dream of Gerontius under Sir Mark Elder, particularly when you consider the stellar cast of singers. I can’t imagine another person in the role of the Angel than Alice Coote, for instance – the way that she colours the tessitura of this great work is absolutely remarkable. And with Paul Groves and Bryn Terfel in the other leading roles, everything is so high class.
I grew up with Pierre Boulez’s recording of The Rite of Spring with the Cleveland Orchestra.
I’ve always been fascinated with his interpretations of Stravinsky, and what I really respect about them is that what you see on the score is what you get. It sounds simple, but for me that is what makes Stravinsky’s music come to life. And that is exactly what I also appreciate about Boulez’s recording of The Firebird with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Jonathon Heyward conducts the Hallé on 21, 22, 23 and 25 March