Isata Kanneh-Mason | News | Isata Kanneh-Mason to Release Fanny Mendelssohn's Rediscovered 'Easter' Sonata

As she prepares to open the 2024 BBC Proms season, Isata Kanneh-Mason today announces her fourth solo album, Mendelssohn, to be released on 9th August on Decca Classics. Here the pianist presents music from both Mendelssohn siblings: the glittering Piano Concerto No.1 by Felix and the long-lost ‘Easter Sonata’ by his exceptionally talented but overlooked elder sister Fanny, as well as transcriptions by other composers of some of Mendelssohn’s most famous music.

“I am fascinated by Fanny Mendelssohn,' says Kanneh-Mason, 'She lived in such a confined way, yet her music has so much fire and so much passion.” That confinement was part and parcel of life for women in the 19th-century: Fanny was prevented by her father from pursuing a career as a concert pianist or composer due to her gender. Rather than adhere to his strict instructions that music should be merely an ‘ornament’ for his daughter, Fanny composed in private, writing nearly 500 works. Many of these are still being discovered today, with several – such as the ‘Easter’ Sonata, written when Fanny was only 22 – a piece lost for 150 years, originally assumed to have been created by Felix and performed under his name for decades.

Isata recently featured in the critically acclaimed film ‘Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn’, produced by the composer’s great-great-great-granddaughter Sheila Hayman, which explores the life of Fanny Mendelssohn, later Fanny Hensel, and revealing the fascinating story behind ‘Easter Sonata’. This new album features the world premiere recording of the new urtext edition of this work. 

In programming the sonata alongside better-known music by Felix, Isata hopes to bring long-deserved recognition to Fanny’s achievements. Supporting neglected women composers is important to the eldest Kanneh-Mason sibling: the pianist recorded Clara Schumann’s concerto on her 2019 album Romance and will perform that work at this year’s First Night of the Proms (on 19th July; with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Elim Chan).

The album blends well-loved works – Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25, performed with the London Mozart Players, conducted by Jonathan Bloxham – with lesser-known gems, including Fanny’s Notturno in G minor for solo piano – also unpublished in the composer’s lifetime. The Mendelssohns regularly performed together during childhood and remained close through adulthood – even dying within a year of each other. As a member of one of the UK’s most beloved musical families, Isata Kanneh-Mason understands the musical connection between siblings (as heard on Muse, her 2021 duo album with cellist brother Sheku) and brings this empathy to her performance.

In an interesting programmatic twist, Kanneh-Mason includes three transcriptions by other composers who were inspired by Felix Mendelssohn. Rachmaninoff’s version of the Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream is among his most virtuosic solo adventures. “You’re leaping all over the piano and it’s incredibly complex, but also very subtle,” says Kanneh-Mason.

The Mendelssohn constellation also connects Moritz Moszkowski’s version of the dreamy Nocturne from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an ethereal, sparsely beautiful reimagining of the sleeping lovers scene. Although Moszkowski was well known in his lifetime, his work has fallen out of fashion, and this is another revival of a rarely heard piece.

The carefully selected programme is all, of course, delivered with Isata’s unique style and perspective. The pianist is increasingly busy with concerto appearances, solo recitals, and chamber concerts throughout the UK and abroad. This season’s highlights include performances at the Lucerne Festival, the Zurich Tonhalle, Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Saint-Denis Festival in Paris, and an extensive US tour starting in June. Key dates include a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York with the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) and Iván Fischer on August 6th, as well as recitals in Baltimore on October 6th, Florida on October 9th, Ann Arbor on October 10th, and Burlington on October 12th, among others.

Track listings:

* with the London Mozart Players, conducted by Jonathan Bloxham