Page 103 - FULL BOOK Isata Kanneh-Mason Childhood Tales

12 June 2023

CD Review – ISATA Kanneh-Mason –

Childhood Tales

Written by Peter Burt. Posted in Releases up to December 2023

CD Review – ISATA Kanneh-Mason
Childhood Tales
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Domingo Hindoyan
<>Decca 485 4180 [67:56]

'This is the fifth album from the brilliant 27-year-old pianist: a member of the famed Nottingham
musical family. There have been reviews of 'Summertime ' and 'Carnival ' (involving all the Kanneh-
Mason's) on this website. Another, 'Muse '(not reviewed here), is with her celebrated cello-playing
brother, Sheku.

The great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) was around the pianist's own age when he wrote
the first work here: Variations on "Ah Vous Dirai-Je, Maman" ("Oh! Shall I tell you, Mama"), which he
would have known as an 18th century French children's song.

The English version of this is, of course, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". The theme and ten of the 12
unnamed variations are all under one minute in length. A case of quality over quantity.

When I was much younger, I recall Variations on a Nursery Song for Piano and Orchestra , by the
Hungarian composer and pianist Ernö Dohnányi (1877-1960), often being played on "the wireless"
but I have not heard it for years. It inspired this album and comprises an Introduction , Theme and a
dozen named variations, also on "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". A delightful rediscovery.

For the above work the RLPO supports Isata under its Armenian-Venezuelan chief conductor since
2021, Domingo Hindoyan (born 1980). Apart from Miss Kanneh-Mason's childhood memories,
unusually, there is no information in the booklet notes about any of the performers.

Children's Corner , by Claude Debussy (1862-1918), provides six more variations, written for his 3-
year-old daughter, the last being a familiar piece, Cakewalk. The album is completed by Robert
Schumann's (1810-56) Kinderszenen, composed when he was a year older than Isata. There are 13
variations, with only two over two minutes long, the best-known being Var. 7, the
charming Träumerei .