Pianovariations

Ivo Janssen was born in Venlo in 1963 and moved to Amsterdam in 1980 to study with Jan Wijn at the Sweelinck Conservatory. He graduated with distinction in 1987 while also having taken lessons with György Szebök and Andrzej Jasinski. In October 1986 he had already won first prize in the celebrated Tromp Piano Competition and not long after he was a semi-finalist in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. In the spring of 1988, Ivo Janssen was awarded a number of prizes, the Jacques Vonk Prize (a scholarship for studies abroad) and the Elisabeth Evers Prize (an important distinction for young musicians) among them.

In 1988 he made his recording debut for Globe with Ravel's Ie Tombeau de Couperin and the Preludes, Op. 28 and Op. 45 by Chopin (GLO 5010). His second recording for Globe was devoted to Sergey Prokofiev, with the Ten Pieces, Op. 12, Four Pieces, Op. 4, The Old Grandmother's Tales, Op. 31, the Second Piano Sonata and the Toccata (GLO 5015). About this recording the American Record Guide reported: "Since these are the only recordings available for the most part, it may seem unnecessary to evaluale the pianist. But he plays these as if he has Slavic blood. If we're going to have only one recording for years to come, we can be grateful it's by Ivo Janssen".