Kuva :Vesa Marttinen 2008
Chopin:Etude G flat major op 10 nr 5,Alba cd 2007
Contact info
Pianist Anne Kauppi
mobilephone +358 40 7000343
e-mail: ankauppi@saunalahti.fi
Concert Office Additional Phone: tel: +358458833444
CV
Anne Kauppi studied in Espoo music institute -70-73 and in Sibelius-Academy ,Helsinki from -73 until -80,when she took her diploma and gave her debut.During 1980-85 she studied in the Juilliard School of Music,New York,with professors Ania Dorfman,Adele Marcus and György Sandor and received there both her diploma and post-graduate diploma.She has attended master courses of Dmitri Bashkirov,György Sebök,Stanislav Knor and Regina Smendzianka.Received a medal in the Youth Art Festival of Finland and 5th prize in Concertino Praga chamber music competition in year -79,represented Finland in the Scandinavian Biennal -82 ,Received third prize shared in Maj Lind pianocompetition,Finland 1979 and in the -91 international Géza Anda competition was selected to play the 70th memorial birthday of Anda in Zürich.Géza Anda- Foundation offered her free lessons with Anda´s former assistant Egil Harder -91-92.During she 98-99 received lessons from Jerzy Gebert (a graduate from Moscow Conservatory under Tatjana Nikolajevna) .Since 1997 she has earned her living solely by concertizing mostly in Finland,but also in Germany and in Sweden.During the Chopin 200-anniversary year 2010 she performed 38 all-Chopin-recitals in Finland.She has also performed as a soloist with most of the Finnish orchestras and the Swedish radio orchestra. Anne Kauppi has recorded 3 all-Chopin cd:s for the Finnish label Alba : Chopin Preludes and Scherzos (-99) , Chopin : 27 Studies (2008) and Chopin Ballades and Fantasies (2010) .The two latter ones recieved good reviews in Allmusic-site and in the American Record Guide- and Fanfare-Magazines .Live-recordings made regularly.Homepage http://www.saunalahti.fi/ankauppi
Some selected critics written in English or in German:
American Record Guide 2009 July
"Even with the legion of competing performances,this Finnish pianist manages to find something new and arresting to say about this much worn music.To begin with,her technique need defer to no one when it comes to handling the notes without spillage.Her expressive playing and willingness to stretch rubato is heard early on,as op 10:2 avoids the metronomic,even when other pianists clearly need to maintain precision downbeats.
I am sure that many would find some of these performances a little uneven.Kauppi slows down,speeds up,and inserts little hesitations,as in op 10:4.The close of op 10:5 seems rather flippant,but it is clear that this is exactly what she intended.Op 10:7 is mightly impressive;she shapes the music as no other has done.
The brutal left-hand stretches of op. 10:9 are carefully interwoven with the right-hand melody in a way that seems perfectly right,but is rarely accomplished.So too the careful dynamics of each arpeggio in op. 10:11.The Revolutionary Study that closes the first set takes on a more adventurous character as the contours of the music of the music are given added weight.Not content to just play the notes in a reasonably strict tempo,Kauppi seems determined to give an added interpretative dimension to the music.
In the op 25 set,the pianist continues much as before.The first of these Etudes finds the melody somewhat reluctant to speak sometimes,while inner voices are stressed.There is little that is smooth and flowing.But I do like her special way with op 25:3; it is like no other performance I have heard.Everything is clearly articulated but there is imagination aplenty,and her idiosyncrasies work especially well here.
Op 25:5 invites expressivity and is given it in spades.The central section is particularly lovely.Her thirds are immaculate in Etude 6,and the Butterly Etude is handled in a direct and forthright way.The winds howl aggressively in 25:11 as she whips up quite a storm,and the last of op. 25 is powerfully persuasive.
The three Posthumous Etudes may be less demanding technically,but Kauppi`s musical talents make the most of their grace and charm.The pianist´s notes are perceptively written,and Alba has supplied strong,clear sound.
Although this would not be a safe first choice for these Etudes - they are too different for that - they demand to be heard.If you are adventurous enough for dangerous waters Kauppi is for you.Otherwise stick to Ashkenazy,Freire,Ohlsson,Perahia and Pollini,among others."Alan Becker
nov/dec 2010 Fanfaremag :
"Finnish pianist Anne Kauppi studied at the Sibelius Academy and then the Juilliard School (New York). From the very start of this disc, Kauppi?s originality of thought is in evidence. She has clearly started from afresh with each Etude. She is unafraid of rubato in unexpected places (the A-Minor, op. 10/2 being a place in point: most pianists rattle this off, whereas Kauppi finds great fascination in the short work`s sixteenth-note infused journey). Her way with the stormy central section of op. 10/3 is dramatic but not over-forceful. What one hears more than anything else here, alongside the intrinsic lyricism, is an indebtedness to Bachian clarity.
Kauppi echews pure virtuosity. Not for her, then, a Pollini steely-fingered romp through op. 10/4 (as in his famous DG reading). Melodic swirls are here gestures of fantasy. Perhaps elements of point-making occasionally surface, but listening to Kauppi here is like listening to the piece anew. Also, with Kauppi it sounds very much part of an ongoing, inter-Etude line, very much part of a set, whereas Pollini´s final gestures perhaps verge on the over-dismissive. Fantasy informs the ensuing G-Flat´s `leggierissimo´, performed with perfect finger fluidity. Her use of the pedal throughout is intelligent and varied, and she has no problem using no pedal at all when she sees fit.
Perhaps only someone from the Nordic countries could find a such Sibelian frozen landscape in the E-Flat Minor, op. 10/6. Here, perhaps, is Chopin?s background for a "Winterreise". Kauppi´s vision is harrowing, nothing less; yet she finds unexpected beauty in the hesitant phrases of the F-Minor, op. 10/9, and sets the penultimate Etude of the op. 10 set absolutely aglow (aligning it therefore to the first of the op. 25 set). If the fire that runs through the so-called "Revolutionary" Etude cannot match that of Pollini, there is undeniable fervour here.
The op. 25 is just as stimulating. The famous A-Flat emerges fresh as a daisy, while the finger-twistings of ensuing F-Minor take on something of an intriguing narrative perspective. Some unexpected bass highlighting in the F-Major somehow adds to the allure of Kauppi´s reading; rarely, too, have I heard op. 25/5 (E-Minor) as quirky as this, while the ruminative contrasting tenor melody seems invented there and then. The desolation identified in op. 10/6 recurs in op. 25/7 (Lento) almost to the extent that the latter becomes a mini-tone poem. The Etude op. 25/10 (B-Minor) is remarkable in that it seems to encapsulate Kauppi´s thoughts about the Chopin Etudes in four and a half minutes, for it holds the force and furore of the most extrovert with the interior utterances of the most introvert in perfect balance. Kauppi´s interpretation of the A-Minor of op. 25, too, is no Bolet-like virtuoso outlet, but is deeply entrenched within Chopin´s psyche, its storm clouds finding fullest expression in the final C-Minor.
The first of the 1840 posthumously published Etudes (F-Minor) is a delight in its finely spun cantabile and is balanced by the exquisite shadings of the final A-flat Major.
Kauppi writes her own booklet notes. They are as informed, eloquent and thorough as her playing. The piano, recorded in the Sello Hall, Espoo, is beautifully caught. The whole product comes unhesitatingly recommended."
Colin Clarke
As with her Etudes disc, Anne Kauppi declares herself a Chopin individualist whose clear aim seems to penetrate to the heart of the Polish master. This disc begins with the elusive Polonaise-Fantaisie, graveyard of many a pianist. Kauppi ensures the debt to the pure Polonaise is eminently discernible, yet in no way diminishes Chopin´s sense of exploration. This is a work the likes of Argerich, Pollini and Moravec have excelled in. Kauppi´s version is utterly individual, and utterly successful, its climax verging on the exultant. The programming bookends the four Ballades with two different kinds of fantasy (the F-Minor Fantasy, op. 49, closes the disc). The F-Minor an equally hefty affair, is referred to by Kauppi in her sterling notes as "noble", and her reading perfectly lives up to this appellation. Whatever she plays, Kauppi seems to exude integrity (I include her version of the Chopin Etudes also reviewed in this issue), and nowhere is this more evident than in this Fantasy. Chordal passages are perfectly placed and weighted as if in a hymn, Kauppi?s concentration enabling the passages to make their mark before being interrupted by Chopin´s storms.
The Ballades themselves reveal themselves as great narrative stretches. The octave lines of the first measures of the First Ballade seem, indeed, to speak. Later, one hangs on every note: this is a great storyteller in action. Not for Kauppi the overt virtuosity of a Horowitz; Perahia seems a more kindred spirit except Kauppi finds more playfulness in the mix. Her voice-leading is wonderfully done, intensifying the musical argument. The coda is no virtuoso feat, but becomes the logical conclusion of what precedes it. The Second Ballade begins ruminatively, if not in quite interior fashion as I had come to expect from this pianist. Contrasts are starkly drawn; a spirit of unrest is predominant here. Kauppi´s technique throughout is beyond criticism.
The narrative urge is readily apparent in Kauppi´s account of the rather gentler Third Ballade, which even at times has a little spring in its step. Kauppi is able to locate a separate sound world for each Ballade, a particular feel that each one has that needs to be identified and nurtured. The Fourth is a masterpiece that seems to stretch time itself. Kauppi is in no hurry; rather she allows Chopin´s natural eloquence to speak.
Probably the greatest compliment I could give Kauppi is that her version of the Ballades need function as no-one´s "supplementary" copy to one of the more accepted great recordings, but hers could stand perfectly well on its own. Her imagination is captivating, her technique sovereign, and the recording of her Steinway is of the top rank."
Colin Clarke
june 2010 Finnish Music Querterly:
"It is suprising that,with only a sea between them,there aren´t more Finns playing Polish music,and vice versa.It´s less surprising that Finnish musicians should want a place on the Chopin-anniversary bandwagon that is rolling round the world at present.With the+ sheer amount of Chopin being issued,any recording is going to have to be very good to stand a chance - and these are.
Anne Kauppi offers the four Ballades and two fantasies in barnstorming performances : her booklet notes reveal an understanding of the poetry and structure confirmed by her playing - and her insight into the music as nationalist protest gives it the edge it needs if it is really going to tell.A pity the piano tone is so metallic............"
Martin Anderson
Allmusic 2009 Review by James Manheim
"In the present revisionist age, the central works of pianistic Romanticism have mostly so far escaped scrutiny and come to concert halls immersed in performance traditions that have come straight down from the nineteenth century. That can't last forever, and revisionist Chopin is now available from Finnish pianist Anne Kauppi. She traces the confused edition history of the etudes in her booklet (in Finnish and English), pointing out that many details of the common ways Chopin's etudes, especially, are played, have come down to us from Chopin's students, who, not surprisingly, took conflicting advice away from their teachers. Nonetheless, Kauppi confidently writes of "ridiculous" metronome markings, "disputable" dynamic markings, and even an "insanely quick" tempo traditionally required in the Etude in E flat minor, Op. 10, No. 6. Listeners who bear in mind that Kauppi's interpretations are unusual will find an intriguing set of the 27 etudes (the Bachian set of 24, Opp. 10 and 25, plus three somewhat freer posthumous works). It's the tempi that are most unusual. Compared with Maurizio Pollini's commonly heard recording of Op. 10 and Op. 25 from 1990, Kauppi is slower in each and every case — and sometimes a lot slower. The E minor etude from Op. 25 (track 17) clocks in at 4 minutes and 17 second in Kauppi's recording, as compared with a mere 2:54 for Pollini (who is admittedly brisk here). The overall effect is to present what might be called an exploded view of the etudes, examining their internal counterpoint (which Kauppi characterizes as "linear") and motivic relationships. Kauppi backs up this general orientation with clear articulation and precise use of tempo rubato to emphasize small details. One gets out of her readings something of the close-up intellectual atmosphere in which Chopin presented most of his music, in front of small groups, and the sound engineering, which really gets inside the piano, emphasizes this feeling. A stimulating Chopin disc for those with a few common performances in their heads, and well worth sampling on the various Internet sites that sell it by the track: that way you can stack Kauppi's readings up against others and evaluate the strength of her unusual claims."
The Biggest Swedish Newspaper in Finland ,Hufvudstadsbladet:
(translated from Swedish)10.2.2010 (Mats Liljeroos)"A.K. is continuing after her appraised Chopin Ètude-recording with an even more striking selection of the best compositions of F.Chopin.....Kauppi is wisely concentrating in the musical architecture while at the same time the poetic and narrative element can be heard in the midst of the staves.Her playing is,like in the all-Ètudes-cd,headstrong and cristallclearly shaped,emotionally embracing the heavens and also analytic.Kauppi is a poet up to her fingertips,whose interpretations live up to the description according to Robert Schumann:"Chopin´s music is like a cannon covered by flowers."The cd-cover inlaytext written by Kauppi is a story in itself,and I recommend the same method for it as for the music:first read it thorough,then study it in detail."
-The Biggest Finnish newspaper,Helsingin Sanomat:18.3.2010 :"The interpretations of the central repertoire of pianomusic by A.K. as gestures of love and outburst of emotion are touching,and the blood from the heart is pouring out..."(Jukka Isopuro)
The Biggest Music Magazine in Finland,Rondo 2008 (translated from Finnish)
"In Anne Kauppi´s pianism there is a taste of gained life-experience........ –Regularly concertizing A.K. has made history by being the first Finn to record all the Chopin´s Ètudes.......It is not completely new in Finland to record some of the Chopin Etudes,but none of the former recordings have consisted both the opuses 10 & 25.Six years ago a Hungarian born Gergely Boganyi recorded the op 25 for Ondine-label,Janne Mertanen and Jouni Somero have reorded a couple of Ètudes,and for the Finnish Radio has Erik T. Tawastsjerna recorded op. 25 and Matti Raekallio op. 10.Comparison to any of these formerly mentioned,and also to any of the international recordings of the Ètudes will show how significant A.K.:s recording really is.With her interpretations she reaches altogether to new dimensions .....There are unthinkably many different colours of sound in her playing.Her dealing with tempi arouses admiration... In A.K.:s hands the grand piano serves as a means to personal expression,where there is plenty of taste of life.After the battle,the music has spoken,and the listener is no more the same as in the beginning."(Janne Koskinen/Rondo)
Finnish Music Quarterly 2008/2
"It´s clear from the opening bars of A.K`s account of the Chopin Studies that she means business.There are some recordings of this repertoire which will see off any competition that doesn´t display a well-nigh inhuman blend of prestidigitation and savage insightfulness,but every "normal" pianist faces this problem ; should mere mortals like Kauppi therefore avoid it?Of course not,and she duly delivers a reading that is full of verve and feeling;far from blaming herself for not sounding like Horowitz,she can be proud of what she has achieved here."(Martin Andersson)
2.6.-01 Neu Ulmer Zeitung:"Perlende Leichtigkeit-K:s Klavierabend zum Auftakt der"Sommerlichen".Mit einem exzellenten Konzert wurdrn die Sommerlichen Ulmer Musiktage 2001 im Kornhaus eröffnet...Mit der Verpflichtung der finnischen Pianistin A.K. wurden gleich künstlerisch hohe Masstäbe gesetzt.Die international erfolgreiiche Pianistin spielte an diesem Abend (Bach:)der diesem Werk innewohnende Reiz entfaltet sich schon in der kühlen Festlichkeit der Ouvertüre mit ihrer durchsichtigen,dreistimmigen Allegrofuge.Von perlender Leichtigkeit geprägt waren die fetnen,graziösen Tänze Bezaubernder Charme lag in der Echo-spielen des Schluss-Stücks...A.K. ist einie Künstlerin,der man zunächst einmal nur gehört.Doch bald schon zwingt sie zum Hinsehen;auf ihre Finger nämlich,die schier Hexenmeisterliches vollbringen...,(Chopin op 31):eine der liebenswürdigsten und pianistisch glänzensten Kompositionen Chopins,bei der die Pianistin nicht zulätzt igre techinsche Brillanz vorführt.(op 25:)..so gleich mit der ersten in As-dur,deren poetischer Charakter die Künstlerin klanglich wunderbar auslutend,gleichsam in einemn ruhigen Gesang fliessen liess.Unter anderem ist auch das Werk op 10 mit nr.1 C-dur,Allegro,an der Reihe.Die geschmeidige Hand der Pianistin verliert auch beim schnellsten Tempo nicht ihre Treffsicherheit..."
Schwäbische Zeitung 12.6.-01:"....Es fehlt auch nicht die dürch allerlei Bearbeitung,Textierung un Instrumentatierung zu unerfreulicher Popularität gelangte E-dur-Etüde nr.3.Umso erfreuclicher,dass sie von der Pianistin ohne jeden Zückerguss mit anrührenden Schlichtheit gestaltet wird...(und Ligeti...:)auch auf diesem Parkett bewegt sich A.K. mit überzeugender,pianistischer Kompetenz.Und manch einer der etwa 150 Besuchherinnen und Besucher wird auf Grund dieser klaren,feinsinnigen,in sich geschlossenen Wiedergabe engeren Kontakt des 20. Jahrhunderts.Bei den beiden Zugaben,als Dank für reichlich gespendenten Applaus,blieb der Gast aus Finnland allerdings bei Chopin."(Barbara Perkovac)----
Ulmer Kulturspiegel 17.6.-91:" originell -
ie junge finnische Pianistin die leidenschaftlichen Entwicklungen der Durchführung zutiefst ausgelotet und im Blick auf die Begleitfiguren einige interessante dynamische Einfälle presentiert
(Ralf Busse)
HANS WOLF 1982
Tidsskrift: Nordic Sounds
"..Anne Kauppi has a breathtaking technique, displayed in Beethoven's Waldstein sonata and the first Chopin concerto. At 20 she was the youngest competitor, and she has yet to reach complete grasp of the inner qualities of these works."
-SVENSKA DAGBLADET 28.9.-82:"Starka tolkningar...med enthusiastisk utstrålning och stark förmåga att övertyga publiken spelade Anne Kauppi Beethovens Waldsteinsonat i C-dur op. 53.Tolkningen tyckes utgå från en hängivenhet till verket som personligt språk.-(PAAVO HEININEN:)...Kauppi gjorde hans pianostycke till en intensiv akt av klang.Den största förhoppningen är att hon inte enbart blir en av många i den etablerade pianolitteraturens tjänst,utan att hon använder sin förmedlande styrka till att visa hur musiken når därutöver,historiskt och erfarenhetsmässigt."(Hans-Gunnar Pettersspn)
"A.K. soitti Beethovenin Waldsteinsonaatin ja vakuutti yleisön innostuneella säteilyllään ja vahvalla tahdollaan.Tulkinta näytti kumpuavan hartaasta kunnioituksesta teoksen musiikilliseen kieleen." -Hans-Gunnar Petterson,Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska dagbladet 1.10.-82:"Överraskande Chopintolkning...A.K.:s tolkning av Chopins pianokonsert nr 1,emoll blev något överraskande:en ny riktning märktes då hon spelade detta välkanda verk.Hennes version åstadkom en befrielse från alla de stämplar konserten har som ett torftigt instrument,opus,där all vikt har lagts i pianostämman.Hon visade en vilja att lyssna till oekesterstämmorna.Speciellt i första satsen uppstod ett intimt utbyte och även de lågmält instrumenterade partierna fick musikalisk mening.Anne Kauppis pianospel är genomskinligt och klart.Dynamiska stegringar är inte resultat av anspänning utan strömmar upp ur en intensitet som ger tydlighet även åt mer dämpad klang.(Hans-Gunnar Pettersson)
-"Yllättävä Chopintulkinta - A.K.:n pianonsoitto on säteilevää ja kirkasta.Dynaamiset nousut eivät ole pakotettuja,vaan kumpuavat sisäisestä todellisesta intensiivisyydestä,joka on läsnä myös vaimeimmissa äänissä."
-Kvällsposten 7.10.-82:"..allt spelades med en avväpnande ungflicksfräschör.Chopin`s konsert fick samma flyhänta behandling till Ahronovitch´fina orkesterbeledsagning.Ett stort framtidslöfte."(Gunnar Sjöqvist)