Sheku’s 2018 chart-topping debut album, Inspiration, centred around Shostakovich’s 1st Cello Concerto. Now, he’s recorded the 2nd Cello Concerto, during a critically-acclaimed tour with John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London. The work features alongside the Shostakovich Cello Sonata and Britten Cello Sonata, recorded with his sister and frequent duo partner, Isata Kanneh-Mason. Shostakovich wrote the concerto for renowned cellist, Rostropovich, with whom he also shared a mutual friendship with Britten. The sonatas on this album were recorded in Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh, the same place that Rostropovich and Britten recorded the Britten Cello Sonata for Decca in 1968 – the recording which made Sheku fall in love with the work.

Tracklist:

LP 1

Side A – Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.2 in G Major, Op.126

1. I. Largo

Side B – Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.2 in G Major, Op.126

1. II. Allegretto
2. Allegretto

LP 2

Side C – Shostakovich Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op.40

1. I. Allegro non troppo – Largo
2. II. Allegro
3. III. Largo

Side D

1. Shostakovich Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op.40: IV. Allegro

Britten Cello Sonata in C Major, Op.65

2. I. Dialogo. Allegro
3. II. Scherzo-Pizzicato. Allegretto
4. III. Elegia. Lento
5. IV. Marcia. Energico
6. V. Moto perpetuo. Presto