Klaus Mertens (singer)

Klaus Mertens (born March 25, 1949 in Kleve ) is a German singer with bass and bass-baritone voices , who is best known for his interpretation of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach .

Life

Klaus Mertens took singing lessons during his school days. After graduating from high school, he studied music and education as well as singing with Else Bischof-Bornes and Jakob Stämpfli (song, concert, oratorio) and with Peter Massmann (opera). He then initially worked as a teacher.

In the field of early music, Klaus Mertens works together with Frans Brüggen , Philippe Herreweghe , René Jacobs , Sigiswald Kuijken , Gustav Leonhardt , Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Martin Haselböck . He recorded Bach's works under various conductors, in addition to the passions and oratorios in particular the approximately 200 cantatas . The first recording of all of Bach's vocal works with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir under the direction of Ton Koopman took place in a project that ran for ten years from 1994 and included tours in Europe, America and Japan. He is also involved in the follow-up project “Dieterich Buxtehude - Opera Omnia”, a complete recording of the works of Dieterich Buxtehude, which began in 2005 .

In the classical repertoire, Klaus Mertens appears with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt , Roger Norrington , Enoch zu Guttenberg , Peter Schreier , Diethard Hellmann , Hans Vonk , Christian Zacharias , Edo de Waart and Iván Fischer and with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic and the Concertgebouw Orchestra , Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra , Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra , Dresden Philharmonic , Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich , Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra . A performance of Mahler's Kindertotenlied under Gary Bertini in Tokyo in 2002 was also recorded. In 2005 he sang in the Berlin Philharmonic in Mass No. 3 in F minor by Anton Bruckner under Kent Nagano . With the St. Thomas Choir he sang the Christmas Oratorio by Bach, who had directed the choir at the first performance in 1734. Thomaskantor Georg Christoph Biller conducted a recording of Bach's Mass in B minor . Mertens works regularly with the Windsbacher Knabenchor and the Dresdner Kreuzchor for concerts in the Kreuzkirche and Frauenkirche . Mertens sang Bach's cantata I want to wear the cross stick at the Wiesbaden Bach Weeks 2009 and 2010 in the Alte Oper Frankfurt, there in contrast to Shostakovich's Babi Jar symphony , conducted by Enoch zu Guttenberg.

He is also active as a lieder singer and interprets works by Claudio Monteverdi , Antonio Caldara , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert , for example . He also sings the title roles of the romantic oratorios Elias and Paulus von Mendelssohn as well as Paul Hindemith's Requiem and Igor Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex from the 20th century .

Klaus Mertens appears regularly at international music festivals, for example the Prague Spring , the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino , the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and the Salzburg Festival . In 2006 he sang the bass part in Bach's St. Matthew Passion at the Rheingau Music Festival under the direction of Enoch zu Guttenberg. With his ensembles Chorgemeinschaft Neubänen and Orchester der KlangVerwaltung he sang great works by Joseph Haydn , Die Schichtung , Nelson-Messe and Die Jahreszeiten at the 12th Beijing Music Festival in 2009 .

Klaus Mertens received the Telemann Prize 2016 for his “extraordinarily intensive handling of Georg Philipp Telemann's vocal works” and “his special understanding of the style and flow of the baroque language and Telemann's vocal music” . The Bach Medal of the City of Leipzig was awarded to Klaus Mertens on June 15, 2019.

Discography

Klaus Mertens' discography includes over 175 CDs and DVDs (as of May 2012), including:

• Othmar Schoeck : Elegy op. 36, with Mutare Ensemble, Gerhard Müller-Hornbach. 1993/2008, NCA
• Max Reger : 24 sacred songs (including 12 sacred songs op. 137), with Martin Haselböck (organ). 2000, NCA
• Christoph Graupner : 3 bass cantatas with Accademia Daniel. 2002, radio music
• Georg Philipp Telemann : 47 figured bass songs , with Ludger Rémy (harpsichord). 2004, jpc
• Schubert: Winterreise , with Tini Mathot ( hammer piano by Rosenberger ). 2005, Antoine Marchand CC 72152
• Telemann: Singing, playing and thoroughbass exercises , with Ludger Rémy (harpsichord). 2006, cpo (Detmar Huchting: review )
• Telemann: Cantatas For Bass Voice , with Il Gardellino Ensemble. 2007, ArkivMusic
• Telemann: Cantatas , with Dorothee Mields, Accademia Daniel under Shalev Ad-El. 2007, cpo
• Johann Pachelbel : Arias & Concerti , with Emma Kirkby , Kai Wessel , Jan Kobow , London Baroque . 2007, Cavalli Records CCD 332
• Gustav Mahler : song cycles in preparation for chamber ensemble , with Mutare Ensemble, Gerhard Müller-Hornbach. 2007, NCA
• Baroque bass cantatas from Central Germany by Kegel, Wolff, Roemhildt , Hoffmann , Donati and Telemann (Kantoreiarchiv St. Johannis (Mügeln) ), with Accademia Daniel under Shalev Ad-El. 2009, cpo

DVD

• Johann Sebastian Bach : Light-hearted fluttering spirits. Cantata BWV 181 . Miriam Feuersinger (soprano), Alex Potter (alto), Julius Pfeiffer (tenor), Klaus Mertens; Orchestra of the JS Bach Foundation , Rudolf Lutz (conductor and harpsichord). Including an introductory workshop and reflection by Hildegard Elisabeth Keller . Gallus Media, 2015.
• Johann Sebastian Bach: I would like to carry the cross staff . Cantata BWV 56. Klaus Mertens, choir and orchestra of the JS Bach Foundation, Rudolf Lutz. Including an introductory workshop and reflection by Oswald Oelz . Gallus Media, 2015.
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Rejoice, redeemed crowd. Cantata BWV 30. Rudolf Lutz, choir and orchestra of the JS Bach Foundation, Julia Sophie Wagner (soprano), Terry Wey (alto), Jakob Pilgram (tenor), Klaus Mertens (bass). Including an introductory workshop and reflection by Rolf Soiron . Gallus Media, 2016.
• Johann Sebastian Bach: Sound, you timpani, sound, trumpets. Cantata BWV 214. Rudolf Lutz, choir and orchestra of the JS Bach Foundation, Johannette Zomer (soprano), Michaela Selinger (alto), Johannes Kaleschke (tenor), Klaus Mertens (bass). Including an introductory workshop and reflection by Thomas Rosenlöcher . Gallus Media, 2016.

Web links

• Literature by and about Klaus Mertens in the catalog of the German National Library
• Klaus Mertens at Allmusic (English)
• Official website of Klaus Mertens
• Klaus Mertens on New Classical Adventures
• Klaus Mertens in recordings by the JS Bach Foundation (completely online)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Berliner Philharmonie Review by Alexander Gurdon on klassik.com
2. ↑ Christmas Oratorio  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Dortmund Concert Hall 2008  
3. ↑ Mass in B minor Naxos
4. ↑ Addicted to this choral singing Interview with Klaus Mertens, 2008
5. ↑ XVIII. Wiesbaden Bach Weeks 2009 ( Memento of the original from July 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Alte Oper ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. February 21, 2010 
7. ^ Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Choir Hamburg 2008
8. ↑ Enoch zu Guttenberg ( Memento of the original from November 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Concerts 2009 
9. ↑ Telemann Prize 2016 for Klaus Mertens. Center for Telemann Care and Research Magdeburg, October 8, 2015, accessed on June 17, 2019 . 
10. ↑ No 13 gala concert. In: bachfestleipzig.de. Retrieved June 11, 2019 . 
11. ↑ Tini Marhot Sonus
12. ↑ Product information ( Memento of the original from May 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the JS Bach Foundation, accessed on April 30, 2015. 
13. ↑ Product information ( Memento of the original from May 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the JS Bach Foundation, accessed on April 30, 2015. 
14. ↑ Product information ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the JS Bach Foundation, accessed on May 16, 2016. 
15. ↑ Product information ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the JS Bach Foundation, accessed on May 16, 2016.