St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble Celebrates Beethoven With Pianist Paavali Jumppanen

Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) 2019-20 Chamber Music Series resumes in March when pianist Paavali Jumppanen joins St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble for the first of two all-Beethoven programs celebrating the composer's 250th birthday. Beethoven's Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat Major and Ferdinand Ries's arrangement of the "Eroica" Symphony for piano quartet are the featured works. A noted Beethoven expert, Jumppanen has recorded many of Beethoven's works for piano and has written extensively about the composer. Performances take place on March 24, Merkin Concert Hall; March 25, The Morgan Library & Museum; and March 29, Brooklyn Museum.

St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble's Beethoven celebration continues in the spring with one of the composer's grandest chamber works, the Septet in E-flat Major. Written in 1800, just before his First Symphony, the Septet is almost symphonic in its rich, varied texture created by the combination of strings and woodwinds-an ideal piece for the Ensemble to honor this great composer. Performances are on May 5, Merkin Hall; May 6, The Morgan Library & Museum; and May 10, Brooklyn Museum.

The Morgan Library concerts on March 25 and May 6 are part of Carnegie Hall's Beethoven Celebration. The Morgan's collection of autograph manuscripts by Beethoven are on view until April 26, including the Violin Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 96; Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1, "Ghost"; sketches for the variation movement of the Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97, "Archduke"; Scottish Songs, Op. 108; Symphony No. 7 (sketch); and the Rondo à capriccio, Op. 129, among others.

More About the Program

This program pairs an early work composed by the 26-year-old Beethoven with a remarkable transcription of his Symphony No. 3 for piano quartet by his friend, student, and secretary, Ferdinand Ries. Beethoven's Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat Major, in three movements, has the same scoring (it is written for piano, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and horn) and was allegedly inspired by Mozart's Quintet K452 written in 1784. Beethoven's Quintet was first performed at a benefit concert in Vienna with the young composer at the piano. In the final movement Beethoven suddenly improvised during a fermata in the last allegro and, according to Ferdinand Ries, who was present, "....entertained himself and the others for quite some time."

Ferdinand Ries arranged Beethoven's famed Symphony No. 3, "Eroica" for piano quartet shortly after the work's premiere in 1803. The practice of transcribing well-known large-scale orchestral works for chamber ensemble was common at the time and fulfilled a demand by amateur musicians who wanted to perform these works. Ries hoped to capitalize on the symphony's popularity and gain valuable revenue for his employer.

Imaginative and versatile Finnish virtuoso pianist Paavali Jumppanen has already cut a wide swath internationally as a solo recitalist, orchestral collaborator, recording artist, artistic director, and frequent performer of contemporary and avant-garde music. Mr. Jumppanen has performed extensively throughout the globe alongside such great conductors as David Robertson, Sakari Oramo, Osmo Vänskä, and Jaap van Zweden. He has commissioned numerous works and collaborated with such composers as Boulez, Murail, Dutilleux, Penderecki. In the recent years Paavali Jumppanen has dedicated much of his time into performing cycles of the complete Beethoven and Mozart Piano Sonatas. He has also often performed all of the Beethoven Piano Concertos and chamber sonatas.