Jouni Somero (born in 1963) is one of the most active performers
among present Finnish musicians. So far he has given over 3,200 concerts
all over the world, including Australia, Japan, Ukraine, Germany,
Hungary, Kosovo, Spain, Suisse, France, Sweden, Estonia, Russia, Brazil, Canada and Finland.
He
began studying organ when he was eight years old but switched to the
piano at the age of twelve. He studied piano in Switzerland and at the
Music Academy in Cologne under Professor Herbert Drechsel and under the
legendary Hungarian pianist Georges Cziffra, he deepened his knowledge
of the interpretation of Liszt's music. Michael Ponti, the American
virtuoso, has also acted as Somero's musical advisor. During 1981-89
Somero lived in Germany, working, among other things, as an assistant at
the Music Academy of Düsseldorf. From 1990 Somero has pursued his
career solely as a concert pianist. He was awarded a diploma at the
International Music competition in Rio de Janeiro.
Jouni Somero's
recording career began in 1989 (with Liszt's 12 Transcendental Etudes),
after which he has made over 100 recordings for different labels
(Naxos,BMG,MILS,Jubal,FC-Records,Grand Piano etc) These include Bach's Das
Wohltemperierte Klavier 1 & 2 and Die Kunst der Fuge, Liszt's
Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses, Liszt's arrangements of Beethoven's
symphonies No. 1 and 5, the Bach arrangements, by Busoni, Brahms and
Kempff, Henselt's Concert Etudes op.2, Schubert's Wanderer-Fantasy, and
the world premier recording of several piano works by Felix Blumenfeld,
Benjamin Godard, Hans Seeling and Hugo Reinhold. He recorded also Complete Piano Works
by Sergei Bortkiewicz,Pjotr Tchaikowsky and Erkki Salmenhaara. His wide repertoire includes all the solo piano
works of Rachmaninov, Tsaikowsky and Bortkiewicz as well as seldom heard
music by, among others, Alkan, Godowsky, Henselt, Rubinstein, Reinhold,
Godard, Seeling, Cui, Blumenfeld and Gottschalk. He has also made many piano
arrangements of orchestral, operetic and pop music.