Stuttgart Philharmonic

Mariano Chiacchiarini conductor Jeneba Kanneh-Mason piano Mendelssohn Overture ‘The Hebrides’ (‘Fingal’s Cave’) Mozart Piano Concerto No.20, KV466 Brahms Symphony No.3 Jeneba Kanneh-Mason takes her first International Concert Series bow in the company of one of Germany’s finest orchestras – and a programme of three undisputed masterpieces. From its taut opening to its dramatic conclusion, Mozart’s 20th piano concerto is among his most gripping. Its sometimes-stormy seas find an echo of sorts in Felix Mendelssohn’s much-loved musical portrait of Staffa, its opening theme apparently sketched out by the composer as soon as he caught sight of the island’s dramatic coastline. ‘I would gladly give all I have written to have composed something like the Hebrides Overture,’ said Johannes Brahms – which would have been a shame, as we’d lose out on tonight’s closing masterpiece. ‘It is all love,’ said Dvořák of Brahms’ radiant Third Symphony, ‘and one’s heart opens wide.’