The cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason was born in Nottingham in 1999. Aged 17, he won the 2016 BBC Young Musician competition and in 2018 played at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. He was a member of the majority black and minority ethnic Chineke! Orchestra, and was awarded an MBE earlier this year. His acclaimed second album, Elgar, was released in January. Kanneh-Mason and his six siblings, all of whom are also musicians, feature in a new documentary, Imagine: This House Is Full of Music, airing on Sunday 12 July on BBC One at 6pm, then on iPlayer.
1. Film
The Last King of Scotland (dir Kevin Macdonald)
Since lockdown, I have been watching lots of films. My favourite is The Last King of Scotland in which Forest Whitaker plays Idi Amin. His performance is amazing – very subtle and nuanced, moving between being humorous and then so dark. For the viewer, it results in a sense of real fear. I love films that give an insight into a particular time in history – this one is set in the 1970s. I also really enjoy the music and the way it’s used to build tension; it’s a great score.
2. Book
Casals and the Art of Interpretation by David Blum
For a long time, Pablo Casals has been one of my favourite cellists and musicians, and this book, recommended to me by my friend and fellow cellist Guy Johnston, talks a lot about phrasing and musical interpretation, which I find very interesting and useful to explore. I have always loved how natural-sounding Casals’s phrases are when he plays the cello – almost like singing – and this book goes into detail about how he achieves that. I have loved learning about his thoughts and his specific examples from pieces in the cello repertoire that I’m familiar with.
3. Food
Ravinder Bhogal’s pear and port crumble
During lockdown, we did a family “Come Dine With Me” competition, split into four teams: my parents, the two younger girls, three older girls, then me, my brother Braimah and our friend Plinio who was staying with us throughout. I messaged the chef Ravinder Bhogal and she gave me this wonderful dessert recipe. It was a massive success and I’ve ended up making it about five or six times – it keeps getting better and better. My dad probably loves it the most but luckily burns it off with his running! I’ll let you guess who won the overall competition…
4. Instagram
For 88 days in a row, the violinist Elena Urioste and her pianist husband, Tom Poster, posted a daily video of them playing together. I was really impressed by how they came up with so many new gems for such a long period of time! They even wore different incredible outfits every day. They were three to five minutes long and there were lots of different styles of music. I have played with both of them in the past, and watching these videos made me miss playing chamber music with people like this.
5. Documentary
When We Were Kings (dir Leon Gast)
Muhammad Ali is such an inspirational character. I love watching him box and his interviews. He was so amazingly intelligent and quick-witted. In this documentary [about the Rumble in the Jungle match between Ali and George Foreman] it was interesting to see how he got very nervous, like anyone would, but on the outside he portrayed a very confident character. There is a lot I can relate to as a musician with the mentality of a sports person. Although the competitive element is different, the self-belief and hard work is something you can observe and learn from.
6. Music
Exploring music during lockdown by myself has been a fascinating process. I’ve been listening to a lot of recordings and music that I haven’t spent the time with before. I’m particularly interested in early recordings of classical music, from the 30s and 40s. For me, a violinist called Josef Hassid, who hasn’t made many recordings because he sadly died very young, was one of the most incredible violinist talents. The depth and the soul in his playing is extraordinary.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason joins the Philharmonia Orchestra and conductor John Wilson to perform Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No 1 in the first of the Philharmonia’s online sessions. Watch the free YouTube premiere on Thursday 16 July, 7pm
