CRH Classical: Paavali Jumppanen

Finland. A land of ice, deep snow, and eternal darkness in the winter. A country sporting more than 30 symphony orchestras year-round. The birthplace, and frequent home, to Paavali Jumppanen, pianist and Artistic Director of the Australian National Academy of Music. Finns might be the happiest people on the planet, but there’s a serious side to Paavali – a focussed intellectual curiosity married with whip sharp technique at the piano, witnessed by audiences around the globe.

“…fresh and exciting playing…” with “…immense power and an extraordinary range of colors.” – The New York Times

“…phenomenal range of keyboard touch and colour, and he applies it with such intelligence…” – The Guardian

Jumppanen is devoted to the music of Beethoven, performing complete cycles of his sonatas, and all the piano concertos and chamber sonatas. For him, knowing the music is more than just learning the dots on the page: “As a person interpreting music, I’m always interested in the kind of context and the community where this particular music was created.”

Questions arise: what was Beethoven’s world like when he was creating? How was he affected by the Napoleonic wars? What kind of place and people did Beethoven find when he arrived in Vienna? Immersing himself with the music, life and times of a single composer gives Jumppanen singular insight into interpretation. For him, art is not created in isolation – rather, it is a reflection of surroundings of the artist.