Chineke! Orchestra / Isata Kanneh-Mason / Kevin John Edusei

Klangzauber - Măcelaru & Kanneh-Mason

Mit nur 17 Jahren gewann Sheku Kanneh-Mason 2016 den Wettbewerb BBC Young Musician of the Year und zählt seitdem zu den Shootingstars der internationalen Klassikwelt. Wie gemacht für das virtuos-sinnliche Spiel des jungen Briten ist Schostakowitschs erstes Cellokonzert, hinter dessen tänzerischer Freude sich viele Momente großer emotionaler Tiefe verbergen. Das packende Werk mit seinen schillernden Klangfarben passt wunderbar zu den klingenden Märchen aus Tausendundeiner Nacht von Nikolaj Rimskij-Korsakow, in dem die Abenteuer von Sindbad und anderen Helden in einem fulminanten Tongemälde vorüberziehen.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason / Camerata Salzburg

»It could only be Shostakovich!« commented the BBC presenter when Sheku Kanneh-Mason entered the final of the »BBC Young Musician« in 2016 with Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto. Naturally, he emerged as the winner of the competition, in which he performed a different work by Shostakovich from round to round. His power composer! And there is no doubt that the now 25-year-old musician is one of the greatest talents on the cello. In ProArte’s »International Soloists« series, Kanneh-Mason juxtaposes the cello concerto dedicated to Rostropovich from 1959 with Ravel’s Hebrew melody Kaddish – an elegiac song that unfolds a particularly intense power in the version for cello and strings. And to mark the Ravel Year 2025, the Camerata Salzburg also contributes »Le tombeau de Couperin«, his very personal and highly artistic exploration of French Baroque music.

Urbański, Kanneh-Mason ・ Shostakovich, Elgar, Stravinsky

Urbański, Kanneh-Mason ・ Shostakovich, Elgar, Stravinsky

Czech Philharmonic / Sheku Kanneh-Mason / Jakub Hrůša

Following a brilliant Elbphilharmonie debut in 2019 with »his« Bamberg Symphony, conductor Jakub Hrůša has become a popular regular visitor to the Elbphilharmonie. From his Czech homeland, he not only brings undoubtedly its best orchestra, but also provides a wonderful programme. This evening’s soloist is the young talented star Sheku Kanneh-Mason performing an all-time favourite cello concerto. Dvořák’s Cello Concerto is one of the most frequently performed cello concertos of all, although Dvořák apparently considered the instrument no more than »a piece of wood that screeches at the top and drones at the bottom«. Yet, the composer must have secretly loved the cello because this composition is captivating with enchanting songlike melodies, great dramatic progressions and delicately lyrical passages. This evening’s soloist is 24-year-old British rising star Sheku Kanneh-Mason, winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician award. This piece with its virtuoso leaps and technical intricacies offers him many possibilities to demonstrate the qualities of this instrument. »The music saved me!« writes Josef Suk, who dedicated the »Asrael« Symphony to two dear relatives, who had recently passed away. The work is named after the archangel who, in Islam, guides the souls of the dead to paradise. It is a work of magnificent beauty; despair and grief meet poetically transfiguring memory. Funeral March, Dance of Death, tender portrait of his wife – the music is so emotionally powerful that one wonders why Suk has not (yet) achieved the popularity of his contemporary Gustav Mahler or his father-in-law Antonín Dvořák!

Sheku Kanneh-Mason & Cellist*innen des Konzerthausorchesters

What's even more beautiful than a cello? Ten cellos! Chamber music is one of the great joys of life for our orchestra musicians. Here, seven members of our cello group and our orchestra academy come together with their colleague Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who is our current artist in residence, for a musically diverse programme.

Isata Kanneh-Mason plays Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3

The Concertgebouw’s famous Main Hall is one of the best concert halls in the world, well-known for its exceptional acoustics and special atmosphere. In the Main Hall, you will feel history. Here, Gustav Mahler conducted his own compositions, as did Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky. Sergei Rachmaninoff played his own piano concertos in the Main Hall. This is also where musicians such as Leonard Bernstein, Vladimir Horowitz and Yehudi Menuhin gave legendary performances. Right up to now, the Main Hall offers a stage to the world’s best orchestras and musicians. Buy your tickets now and experience the magic of the Main Hall for yourself!

Exile Orchestra MRIYA

To mark Ukraine’s Independence Day, the exile orchestra MRIYA will perform an extraordinary concert with works by German and Ukrainian composers. The ensemble was founded in March 2022 by professional musicians who had to flee to Germany to escape the horrors of the Russian war of aggression and, under the direction of violinist Kateryna Suprun, founded an ensemble that grew into the MRIYA exile orchestra with the support of the Hamburg-based funding organisation Culture Connects e. V.. With around 80 concerts in venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Gewandhaus Leipzig and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the orchestra has established an excellent reputation.

Shostakovich' Symphony No. 5 & Cello Concerto: Semyon Bychkov & Sheku Kanneh-Mason

The Concertgebouw’s famous Main Hall is one of the best concert halls in the world, well-known for its exceptional acoustics and special atmosphere. In the Main Hall, you will feel history. Here, Gustav Mahler conducted his own compositions, as did Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky. Sergei Rachmaninoff played his own piano concertos in the Main Hall. This is also where musicians such as Leonard Bernstein, Vladimir Horowitz and Yehudi Menuhin gave legendary performances. Right up to now, the Main Hall offers a stage to the world’s best orchestras and musicians. Buy your tickets now and experience the magic of the Main Hall for yourself!