Janne Mertanen
Pianist Janne Mertanen is known as a Chopin specialist but also plays a variety of other music, much of it Scandinavian. He has recorded for the Alba and Sony Classical labels.
Mertanen was born on August 28, 1967, in Joensuu in eastern Finland. He has retained ties to that city, serving as artistic director of the Joensuu Music Festival. Mertanen attended the Joensuu Institute of Music from 1982 to 1986; his principal teacher was Matti Haapasalo, but he also attended master classes, traveling to Zurich, Switzerland, for one with Verena Pfenninger. He moved to the Finnish capital of Helsinki from 1986 to 1992 for studies at the Sibelius Academy with Erik T. Tawaststjerna and Dmitri Bashkirov, and from 1993 to 1995, he rounded out his education at the Accademia Pianistica in Imola, Italy, studying with Lazar Berman. Mertanen scored a major breakthrough as a performer with a win at the International Chopin Competition in Darmstadt, Germany, and since then, he has been identified especially with Chopin's music. He also won the Nyborg Nordic Competition. Mertanen made his recording debut in 1994 on the Finlandia Records label with the album Chopin Recital; that album was reissued by the Fazer label in 2011. Beginning in 1998, he recorded for the Alba label, releasing an album of piano works by composer Joonas Kokkonen there in 2001.
Mertanen has appeared with major Finnish orchestras and has also performed as a concerto soloist with orchestras in Germany and in other Scandinavian countries. In 2010, he performed Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, with the Orchestra of the National Theater of Brazil. He is especially active as a recitalist, appearing at Casals Hall in Tokyo during the 1991-1992 season, making his Wigmore Hall debut in London in 1994, and later touring in Australia, the U.S., and Canada. Mertanen recorded for Alba frequently until the late 2010s, releasing albums of contemporary Finnish music as well as Chopin and other Romantic repertory. In 2023, he moved to the Sony Classical label, releasing the album Chopin.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
13 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Sibelius Piano Works
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 27 nov. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kaski: Piano Works
Klassiek - Released by Alba on 1 feb. 2019
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius - Finnish Folk Songs & Discoveries
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 24 sep. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Piano Music (Janne Mertanen)
Klassiek - Released by Alba on 1 jan. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Palmgren: April
Janne Mertanen, Pori Sinfonietta, Jan Soderblom
Klassiek - Released by Alba on 5 jan. 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Nocturnes, Vol. 1
Klassiek - Released by Alba on 1 jan. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg & Schumann: Piano Concertos
Janne Mertanen, Gävle Symfoniorkester, Hannu Koivula
Concertmuziek - Released by Alba on 23 sep. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grand Chopin
Janne Mertanen, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Jani Telaranta
Klassiek - Released by Alba on 19 mrt. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rota: Piano Concertos
Janne Mertanen, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Hannu Lintu
Klassiek - Released by Alba on 23 feb. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2
Janne Mertanen, Joensuu City Orchestra, Hannu Koivula
Klassiek - Released by Alba on 1 jan. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kokkonen: Piano Works (Janne Mertanen)
Klassiek - Released by Alba on 1 jan. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin Recital
Klassiek - Released by Fazer Records - Finlandia on 4 apr. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo