Janne Juhani Mertanen (born 28 August 1967 in Joensuu, Finland) is a Finnish classical music pianist. He has studied at the Joensuu Conservatory under Matti Haapasalo and at the Sibelius Academy as a student of, among others, Erik T. Tawaststjerna. The pianist, who specializes in Chopin, made his debut at London's Wigmore Hall with a Chopin program in 1994.
Life and career
Janne Mertanen has studied at the Joensuu Conservatory as a student of Matti Haapasalo and at the
Sibelius Academy where his teachers included Erik Thomas Tawaststjerna and
Dmitri Bashkirov. He then completed his studies with
Lazar Berman at the Accademia Pianistica in Imola, Italy. He made his debut at
Wigmore Hall in London in 1994 with a Chopin program. In March 2010, he made his South American debut as the soloist of Schumann’s piano concerto with the Orchestra of the National Theater of Brazil. In 2014, he made his solo debut in Japan with the Tokyo New City Orchestra. Janne Mertanen is best known for his performances and recordings of
Frederic Chopin.
Mertanen is also an Artistic Director of the music festival Joensuun Musiikkijuhlat, which has presented various well known artists like Klaus Mäkelä,
Seela Sella and
Iiro Rantala.
Early life
When Janne Mertanen was a child, he initially wanted to become a tennis player. However at the age of 12 he started to play piano and decided to make it his career.
Discography
Most of Mertanen's recordings are published either by Sony Classical or Finnish label
Alba Records.
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Chopin: Mertanen-Chopin. Sony Classical 2023
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Sibelius: Finnish Folk Songs & Discoveries. Sony Classical 2021
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Kaski: Yö meren rannalla, Heino Kaski Piano Works. Alba 2018
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Palmgren: Piano Concertos 4-5, Pori Sinfonietta-Jan Söderblom. Alba 2017
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Sibelius: Piano Works 5 cd. Sony Classical 2015
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Grieg/Schumann: Piano Concertos, Gävle Symphony Orchestra-Hannu Koivula. Alba 2013
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Chopin: Grand Chopin, Works for piano & Orchestra. Turku Philharmonic-Jani Telaranta. Alba 2011
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Nino Rota: Piano Concertos e & C / Tampere Philharmonic-Hannu Lintu. Alba 2010
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Sibelius: Piano Works. Presence Records 2010
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Chopin: Piano Concertos 1 & 2 / Joensuu City Orchestra-Hannu Koivula. Alba 2008
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Chopin: Nocturnes vol.2 Alba 2003 ("Grand Prix du Disque Frederic Chopin" - award, Warsaw 2005)
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Chopin: Nocturnes vol.1 Alba 2001 ("Grand Prix du Disque Frederic Chopin" - award, Warsaw 2005)
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Romantic Finnish Piano (Madetoja, Sibelius etc) Macedonia Records 2001
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Chopin: 10 Mazurkas, 3 Etudes etc. Alba 2000
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Kokkonen: Piano Works. Alba 1998
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Satie: Satierik - Piano Works. Alba 1997
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Chopin Recital. Finlandia Records 1994
Competitions
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International Chopin Competition Darmstadt, 1992, 1st place
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Nyborg Nordic Piano Competition (Denmark), 1992, 1st place
External links
