Piano star Isata Kanneh-Mason tackles Rach 3: 'a work not so terrifying...'

Isata Kanneh-Mason, a rising star in the classical music world, is set to perform Sergei Rachmaninoff's notoriously challenging Third Piano Concerto. Despite its formidable reputation, Kanneh-Mason views the piece with a sense of calm confidence, suggesting that media portrayals have perhaps exaggerated its difficulty. She believes that while the concerto is vast and intense, requiring significant dedication, its technical demands are exceptionally well-written.

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I think the media and cinema in particular have largely exaggerated the thing. It's true that it's a particularly vast and intense concerto, which requires a long companionship before fully mastering it. With its large arches, it certainly puts the mind to the test, but as far as technique is concerned, it is clearly very well written, by someone who masterfully controls everything.

Kanneh-Mason hails from the renowned Kanneh-Mason family, a prodigious musical clan. Her siblings, including cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, have also achieved significant recognition. The family first captured widespread public attention in 2015 when six of the older siblings appeared on the television show "Britain's Got Talent." Their mother later published a book titled "House of Music: Raising the Kanneh-Masons."

Despite her family's unique path to fame, Isata Kanneh-Mason followed a traditional academic route. She attended the Purcell School for Young Musicians during her adolescence and later enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music in London. There, she benefited from a comprehensive education, including a scholarship funded by Sir Elton John, an alumnus of the institution. She also pursued studies in violin and viola to participate in orchestral sessions, complementing her primary focus on piano.

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Sheku simply won an important competition at a very young age – the BBC Young Musician Prize – but nothing fundamentally changed between us. On the contrary, he supported me a lot and his journey was a source of inspiration for me to make my own place in the sun.

Kanneh-Mason dismisses any notion of competition between herself and her brother Sheku, who gained prominence earlier after winning the BBC Young Musician competition. She states that his success served as inspiration rather than a source of rivalry. She is looking forward to performing with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under conductor Iván Fischer in Gstaad, Switzerland, an event she anticipates with pleasure, noting the audience's attentiveness and the country's notable tidiness compared to London.

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I find the audience particularly attentive… and everything is so clean where you are, nothing like London!