Pianist Paavali Jumppanen Photo: Maarit Kytöharju
Of all the masterworks, all the millions of notes, it's the Appassionata Sonata Paavali Jumppanen loves best.
The Finnish pianist will perform Beethoven's masterpiece at the Martinborough Festival at the end of this month.
Speaking from his second home in Melbourne (he and his family switch between Australia and Finland), Jumppanen told Bryan Crump why Beethoven's Sonata No 23 in F Minor is his favourite.
Beethoven: he had reason to be grumpy. Photo: Boston Public Library
Beethoven wrote it between 1804 and 1805 as he came to terms with his hearing loss, and while the French dictator Napoleon was creating mayhem across Europe.
Napoleon didn't make Beethoven's hearing loss any easier. Photo:
Earlier in his life, Napoleon had been a hero to Beethoven. But by the time of the Appassionata, the self-proclaimed Emperor of France had become a big fat zero to the German composer.
Jumppanen told Crump the collapse of Beethoven's inner and outer worlds found their full expression in the work, and it's that dramatic intensity which makes the Appassionata so difficult - but rewarding - to play.
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