Sheku Kanneh-Mason plays Bloch | Philharmonia Orchestra

Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s career has gone from strength to strength, from winning BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2016 to playing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Tonight, he is the soloist in Bloch’s Schelomo: Hebraic Rhapsody for cello and orchestra. Bloch channelled the suffering he witnessed during the First World War into this lamenting and deeply profound work, which presents a closely intertwined relationship between the solo cello and orchestra – quite different to that of a more typical concerto.

Opening the concert is Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No 3, which tells the story of Leonore, a woman who disguises herself as a prison guard in order to rescue her husband Florestan. Beethoven encapsulates all the tension and sweetness of this striking tale in music full of twists and turns, drama and emotion.

Sibelius’s defiant first symphony, full of Nordic intensity, was a response to the political situation that gripped Finland at the turn of the 20th century. Interspersed with folkish tunes and powerful moments, it’s full of richness – and has a surprising ending.