Beethoven Triple Concerto by  SHEKU KANNEH-MASON

by  SHEKU KANNEH-MASON: (left)

with Nicola Benedetti  & Benhamin Grosvenor:

Norman Warwick loves it

When Sheku explained for me how he feels about this album and how much fun he and his friends had in making it, I realised that all had conveyed itself to me on my first hearing.

It was an absolute joy and privilege to make music for the first time with two musicians I grew up admiring. I first heard them both on television in the finals of BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2004, and like many participants and winners in that competition, they became massive inspirations to me.

I saw Nicola Benedetti perform live for the first time when I was a child when she came to play a Mozart violin concerto in Nottingham, and that was a very memorable experience. Of course I knew her playing before and since via the many recordings she has made. Likewise with Benjamin, I was obsessed with his Chopin, Liszt and Ravel album when that came out several years ago, and have had the pleasure of seeing him perform live many times. So it really was such a special moment for me to perform and record the Beethoven Triple concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra (an orchestra with whom I have collaborated several times before) and their principal conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali.

It’s a piece full of so much spirit, playfulness and life, and I love the combination of intimate chamber music-like conversations between the 3 soloists, and the colourful and powerful sound of the orchestra.