In music he performed both as a solo artist and in the bands Virtanen (with Moog Konttinen), Välikausitakki and Sammas.
In 1970 Virtanen was affiliated with Turku University, where he became professor 1990 in cultural history.
"Many people ask what the meaning of life is. I know: it's tango." So says Virtanen, the hero of Tango on intohimoni, or Tango is my Passion, the definitive Finnish tango novel.
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Virtanen is a tango obsessive, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject, which he insists on sharing with everybody he meets.