Childhood Tales

Ernö Dohnányi’s Variations on a Nursery Song, a piano concerto in all but name, draws out a dashing performance from Isata Kanneh-Mason, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and its chief conductor, Domingo Hindoyan. They whip the Hungarian composer’s lively take on what many know as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” to Mahlerian peaks of intensity without losing touch with the work’s ample wit and charm. Kanneh-Mason’s elegant pianism catches the light and shade of Mozart’s 12 Variations on “Ah, vous dirai-je Maman”, another homage to “Twinkle, Twinkle”; she’s equally alert to the composition’s pathos, especially so in its penultimate variation. Her choice of grown-up reflections on childhood includes Debussy’s Children’s Corner and Schumann’s Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), the former infused with tender affection for the music, the latter’s gentle nostalgia brought to life with poetic phrasing and playful energy.