Hellas, Kuusisto & Jumppanen
Piano recital by Paavali Jumppanen on composer Taneli Kuusistos (1905 – 1988) Hellas grand piano.
Programme
Jean Sibelius: 10 Pieces, Op, 58
Rêverie
Scherzino
Fisherlied
Jaakko Kuusisto: Jurmo, Op. 31
Taneli Kuusisto: Sonatina, Op. 13
Allegro moderato
Lento
Vivace
Franz Schubert: Sonata in A major, D 595
Allegro
Andantino
Scherzo (Allegro vivace) – Trio (Un poco più lento)
Rondo (Allegretto – Presto)
The Sibelius Museum has been donated a rare Finnish Hellas grand piano from 1930. The grand piano – which has an interesting history and was originally acquired by the pioneering composer Taneli Kuusisto (1905-1988) – will be presented to the public at a concert in the museum’s Sibelius Hall on Sunday 4 February. In this concert, internationally renowned pianist Paavali Jumppanen will perform music by Taneli Kuusisto, Jaakko Kuusisto, Jean Sibelius and Franz Schubert with Kuusisto’s Hellas grand piano. After the concert, the instrument will be on public display as part of the museum’s collection of instruments. The instrument was donated to the Sibelius Museum by Kuusisto’s daughter Tuulikki Närhinsalo.
The concert will open with three pieces by Jean Sibelius, Rêverie, Scherzino and Fischerlied from opus 58. The concert will also pay tribute to Taneli Kuusisto’s grandson Jaakko Kuusisto (1974-2022), whose 50th birthday was on 17 January. Jurmo op. 31 was commissioned and premiered by Jumppanen and dedicated to him by his friend Jaakko Kuusisto in 2013. The concert will also feature Sonatina op. 13 by Taneli Kuusisto. The concert then concludes with the great Sonata in A major D. 959, one of the last works by Franz Schubert (1797-1828).
Paavali Jumppanen
In the span of recent seasons, the imaginative and versatile Finnish virtuoso Paavali Jumppanen has established himself as a dynamic musician of seemingly unlimited capability who has already cut a wide swath internationally as an orchestral and recital soloist, recording artist, artistic director, and frequent performer of contemporary and avant-garde music.
Mr. Jumppanen has performed extensively in the United States, Europe, Japan, China, and Australia and collaborated with great conductors including David Robertson, Sakari Oramo, Susanna Mälkki, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Jaap van Zweden. He has commissioned numerous works and collaborated with the composers Boulez, Murail, Dutilleux, and Penderecki. The Boston Globe praised the “overflowing energy of his musicianship” and The New York Times cited his “power and an extraordinary range of colors.”
In the recent years Paavali Jumppanen has dedicated much of his time to performing cycles of the complete Beethoven and Mozart piano sonatas. He has frequently performed all of Beethoven’s piano concertos and chamber sonatas. He attended the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and later worked with Krystian Zimerman at the Basel Music Academy in Switzerland where he also studied organ, fortepiano, and clavichord. Russian born pianist Konstantin Bogino has remained an important mentor throughout his career.
Mr. Jumppanen’s expanding discography includes “the best recorded disc of Boulez’s piano music so far” (the Guardian writing about the three sonatas recorded on a DGG disc made at the composer’s request) and the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas on Ondine. He spent the 2011–12 season as a visiting scholar in Harvard University’s Music Department studying musicology and theory to deepen his immersion in Viennese 18th century music.