Klaus Mertens
Bass-baritone Klaus Mertens is a leading singer of Baroque concert repertory, especially the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. He has recorded nearly 100 of the cantatas and all the large choral works of the Leipzig master to great acclaim.
He was given singing lessons while in elementary school. His university studies were intended to prepare him for a career as a music teacher, and he worked as a schoolteacher for a time. But his developing vocal talents made it feasible to attempt a serious singing career. He embarked on additional voice training, teaching, and interpretation studies with Else Bischof-Bornes, Jakob Stämpfli, and Peter Massmann.
Mertens has established a major concert career and has made over 100 recordings. He has worked with leading interpreters in the early music/authentic performance school -- for example, Ton Koopman, with whom he participated in a complete set of the Bach cantatas, as well as René Jacobs, Philippe Herreweghe, Sigiswald Kuijken, Frans Brüggen, Gustav Leonhardt, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. With conductors such as Gerard Schwarz, Peter Schreier, Edo de Waart, Herbert Blomstedt, Iván Fischer, and Hans Vonk he has appeared in major orchestral concerts, including those with the Saint Louis, Chicago, and Jerusalem Symphony Orchestras, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam.
Since much of the activity in the early music field is associated with summer music festivals, he frequently appears at such venues as the Lucerne Festival, the BBC Proms, the Mostly Mozart Festival of New York, the Salzburg Festival, the Prague Spring, Bach-Tage Berlin, the Flanders Festival, the Oxford Handel Festival, and many others.
In common with many other early music specialists, Mertens also has an interest in major repertory of the 20th century, performing Hindemith's A Requiem for Those We Love and Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, among other works. He has also received praise for his work in Mendelssohn's Elijah, the same composer's Paul, and other major Romantic concert works. He also is highly regarded as a lieder singer. Mertens has frequently appeared on European television and radio broadcast concerts.
© TiVo
Similar artists
-
Johann Sebastian Bach; Geistliche Lieder
Classical - Released by Challenge Classics on 20 Oct 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Friedrich Theodor Fröhlich: Lieder & Elegies
Klaus Mertens, Volodymyr Lavrynenko
Classical - Released by Rondeau Production on 9 Dec 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Willst Du Dein Herz Mir Schenken
Klaus Mertens, Tini Mathot, Ton Koopman
Classical - Released by Challenge Classics on 31 May 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Musicalisches Gesang-Buch
Klaus Mertens, Barbara Schlick, Wouter Möller, Bob Van Asperen
Classical - Released by CPO on 29 Sep 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cantabo Domino
Klaus Mertens, Dmitri Grigoriev
Classical - Released by Ars Produktion on 19 Nov 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Telemann: Cantatas & Fantasies for Viola da gamba
Dorothee Mields, Hanna Zumsande, Klaus Mertens, Hamburger Ratsmusik, Simone Eckert
Classical - Released by CPO on 13 Aug 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cantates
Klaus Mertens, Nancy Argenta, La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken, Petite Bande, La
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Accent on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
C.P.E. Bach: Sacred Songs
Classical - Released by CPO on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Whitsun Cantatas
Barbara Schlick, Deborah York, Bogna Bartosz, Kai Wessel, Christoph Prégardien, Klaus Mertens
Classical - Released by Challenge Classics on 22 Apr 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Himlische Weyhnacht (Festive Christmas Songs from Luther to Bach)
Salzburg Bell'Arte, Marie Luise Werneburg, Klaus Mertens
Christmas Music - Released by Berlin Classics on 6 Nov 2015
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Stölzel: Christmas Oratorio & Cantatas Nos. 1-5
Britta Schwarz, Henning Voss, Jan Kobow, Klaus Mertens, Weimarer Barock-Ensemble, Ludger Rémy
Classical - Released by CPO on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
An die Musik - Famous Songs by Franz Schubert
Classical - Released by Challenge Classics on 31 May 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fasch: Cantatas, Overture in D Minor & Chalumeau Concerto in B-Flat Major
Accademia Daniel, Klaus Mertens, Deborah York, Shalev Ad El
Classical - Released by CPO on 14 Mar 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Telemann, G.P.: Cantatas / Chamber Music
Klaus Mertens, Berliner Barock Compagney
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by CapriccioNR on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
C.P.E. Bach: Lieder & Oden
Classical - Released by CPO on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cantates pour basse
Classical - Released by Accent on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Works for Viola da gamba Consort
Hamburg Ratsmusik Ensemble, Klaus Mertens, Michael Fuerst
Classical - Released by CPO on 1 Oct 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stabat Mater
Sandrine Piau, Heidrun Kordes, Derek Lee Ragin, Klaus Mertens, Vokalensemble des SWR, Michael Schneider
Film Soundtracks - Released by Koch Music on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Antonin Dvorák: Biblische Lieder (Josef Klicka: Orgelsonate fis-Moll)
Klaus Mertens, Susanne Rohn, Josef Klicka, Antonín Dvořák
Classical - Released by Rondeau Production on 4 Jun 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christoph Graupner : Bass Kantaten
Classical - Released by Pan Classics on 1 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo