Klaus Mertens

About

Klaus Mertens is the German bass voice most closely associated with the complete vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach, having sung every single bass solo part across the entire recording project with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir under Ton Koopman. That project ran for ten years from 1994, covering all 200 or so cantatas alongside the Passions and oratorios, and critic George Chien counted 190 individual pieces requiring a bass soloist. Mertens sang them all. His range goes well beyond Bach. He has performed lieder from Monteverdi through to Schubert, taken on the title roles in Mendelssohn's oratorios Elijah and St. Paul, and appeared with orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw and the Chicago Symphony under conductors including Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. He is also part of the ongoing Buxtehude Opera Omnia project recording that composer's complete works with the same Amsterdam ensemble. As of 2009 his discography stretched to more than 140 CDs and DVDs.