Sheku Kanneh-Mason announces new album

Sheku Kanneh-Mason has announced a new album: Elgar. Centred on Elgar’s Cello Concerto, it will be released on 10 January 2020 on Decca Classics.

The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in June, with Simon Rattle conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO). The Cello Concerto was debuted by LSO on 27 October, 1919, with Elgar himself conducting.

Kanneh-Mason explained why he picked this work for his second album: “I first heard [it] when I was four or five, watching DVD performances of Jacqueline du Pré and listening to her phenomenal CD recording from 1965. Even at that age, I had the ambition of performing the work live; and my family were of course a very encouraging first audience!”

Other works by Elgar on the album are Nimrod and Blow the Wind Southerly. The album’s track listing is completed by works from the same era. These include Julius Klengel’s Hymnus and Gabriel Fauré’s Élégie.

The young cellist’s first album was released in 2018. Inspiration has since gone on to sell over 120,000 copies.

shekukannehmason.com | deccaclassics.com