Shock Waves Issue From Jumppanen

If Paavali Jumppanen was aiming to make an especially splashy impression in his California debut at Schoenberg Hall Sunday afternoon, he succeeded. The sandy-haired, 27-year-old Finnish pianist clearly has stupendous technical ability and the stamina of a heavyweight champion, taking on and conquering Rachmaninoff’s finger-smashing Etudes-Tableaux, Opus 39--not just one or two (that would have been taxing enough), but all nine of them.

Yet before he made his splash, Jumppanen made a statement, one that was no less attention-grabbing. Reversing what would have been a conventional sequence, Jumppanen opened with Ravel’s “Valses Nobles et Sentimentales” and then played Mozart’s Sonata No. 17, as if to say that Mozart shouldn’t be taken for granted as a mere warmup for the main courses. And though the Ravel was somewhat mannered and fussy in patches, the Mozart was extroverted and large-boned, with an astounding variety of coloring in the finale at a lightning tempo.

Tchaikovsky’s Dumka (“Russian Rustic Scene”), in which Jumppanen provided bursts of impetuous drive, served as a preview of coming attractions. After the break, he went to work on Rachmaninoff, at times giving the Steinway a furious battering with raw, metallic sonorities in the deep bass but also bringing out subtleties of color in the right hand. Jumppanen has a good feeling for the style, with plenty of expressive yet not excessive rubatos, and occasionally he produced visceral shock waves of near- Horowitz-ian proportions. Tchaikovsky’s “June” Barcarolle and “November” Troika, from “The Seasons,” were the encores.

What we didn’t hear Sunday was Jumppanen’s contemporary side. He is reputed to be a formidable champion of Dutilleux, Boulez and various Finnish compatriots. Maybe next time, and, we hope, soon.