The Kanneh-Masons, Sinfonia Viva and Nottingham Harmonic ChoirRoyal Concert Hall, Nottingham | 10 January 2026⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Ruff
Photo credit: Ollie Ali
The Kanneh-Masons, Sinfonia Viva and Nottingham Harmonic Choir
Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham | 10 January 2026
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Ruff
“A city celebrates key elements of its musical life.”
If the world doesn’t know by now that Nottingham is a very musical city, then I don’t know where the world has been hiding or what it listens to. Saturday’s concert was a celebration of key elements of its musical life: not only the world’s most celebrated musical family but also the city’s long-established civic choral society and an orchestra that plays a dynamic part in the cultural life of the East Midlands.
That doesn’t mean, of course, that sometimes things don’t quite go according to plan. The centrepiece of this concert was going to be Isata, Braimah and Sheku Kanneh-Mason playing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for piano, violin and cello. The prospect seemed irresistible, and tickets sold out almost as soon as they were put on sale. Unfortunately, Sheku has fractured a finger, so no cello-playing for him for the time being.
However, the show must – and did - go on, thanks to some intelligent decisions. The Triple Concerto was replaced by Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto (for Isata) and his Romance No 2 (for Braimah), with Sheku taking part by introducing the concert.
Beethoven’s 4th is clearly a concerto close to Isata’s heart, apparent from the outset when, alone, she stated the principal theme in a hushed, unaccompanied meditation. What followed unfolded with a serene, flowing grace. The slow movement was particularly moving for the way in which Isata, Sinfonia Viva and conductor Jonathan Bloxham handled two vastly contrasting worlds: the stern, clipped, implacable orchestra and the voice of the piano that stands against it, pleading and persistently lyrical. The movement may be short, but it builds up huge tension before it is dissolved in the radiant, sunlit rondo finale, whose dancing theme becomes a celebration of virtuosity and rhythmic joy. This is clearly music which flows in Isata’s veins: its playfulness, tender reflection and infectious energy.
Braimah showed that there is more to Beethoven than volcanic innovation and heroic struggle. The Romance for Violin and Orchestra No 2 is a serene song without words, opening with one of the composer’s most tender melodies, the violin entering almost immediately with a flowing, graceful theme that, in Braimah’s hands, unfolded with natural, breathing ease. It lasts only a few minutes but it distils a mixture of emotional clarity, perfect balance and direct, communicative power. Braimah conveyed all this with poise and sensitivity.
The Nottingham Harmonic Choir was on fine form too, performing Brahms’ Song of Destiny and Vaughan Williams’ Toward the Unknown Region, both scrupulously attentive to detail and producing rich, carefully balanced sound throughout. The Brahms opens with a mood of otherworldly tranquility, the choir entering softly, their lines floating with a seamlessness that mirrors blessed beings walking in divine light. This isn’t easy for a large choir to achieve but the Harmonic managed it impressively. They were equally splendid in the Vaughan Williams where they had to navigate shifting harmonies and the sort of dense choral textures which evoke struggle and disorientation. The final few bars are a setting of the words ‘float/In time and space’ and ask the singers to sound ethereal and weightless, to create a luminous texture which seems to dissolve into light itself. Their Music Director, Richard Laing, had clearly done a splendid job in preparing them and Sinfonia Viva’s conductor Jonathan Bloxham created with them and his orchestra a mystical, intensely visionary musical narrative. Their performance ended a memorable evening.
Sinfonia Viva
Nottingham Harmonic Choir (Music Director: Richard Laing)
Jonathan Bloxham, conductor
Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano
Braimah Kanneh-Mason, violin
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, presenter