Arthur Loosli

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Arthur Loosli (1962)
Arthur Loosli doing copperplate engraving (1999)

Arthur Loosli (born February 23, 1926 in La Chaux-d'Abel, Sonvilier ; † January 5, 2021 in Steffisburg ) was a Swiss concert singer and painter .

Life

Arthur Loosli was born in La Chaux-d'Abel, a hamlet in the municipality of Sonvilier in the Bernese Jura , as the second of seven children to a comprehensive school teacher and a farmer's wife. The nature of the Freiberg mountains with the willows and firs, the legendary moors and the limestone deposits shaped him.

From 1942 to 1946 he graduated from the teachers' college in Bern , where he also lived until 1983. Then he moved to Muri near Bern and in 1996 to Steffisburg . He was married and had two sons.

Loosli felt the need from an early age, "just as a seismograph records subterranean emotions, to convey signs and images from the inner world of the soul into the light of day with the scribbling hand". After graduating from the teacher training college, he studied at the Bern School of Applied Arts from 1946 to 1949. This was followed by study visits to Paris , Florence , Venice and Stockholm . In 1953 he was given a teaching position for drawing and art history at the Thun high school . He held this position until his regular retirement .

Arthur Loosli as Ottokar in Freischütz CMvon Weber at the Stadttheater Bern in 1958

In 1950 Loosli began his training as a concert singer at the conservatories in Bern, Venice and Stockholm. First he took singing lessons from Felix Loeffel in Bern. This was followed by further studies with Mariano Stabile in Venice (1958) and Arne Sunnegaard in Stockholm (1958–1959). In 1959 he won first prize in the bass baritone category at the international vocalist competition in 's-Hertogenbosch in Holland . At the same time he also received the Jos Orelio Prize.

Painter

Arthur Loosli: The world of the draftsman - play and dream

Loosli's versatility is evident both in the subject areas and in the techniques with which he designed his works. There are drawings with pen, pen, pencil and charcoal, sgraffiti , etchings , copperplate engravings , paintings , screen prints , wood and ceramic sculptures . Loosli chose objects, mostly from the diversity of ancient art and nature, which he wanted to shape and transform with humorous ideas: Cathedrals solidify into snail shells and rock , transform into mythical creatures and run or fly away; Water as an element that carries and devours mysterious ships, blocks the ark or opens up a view of the vastness of infinity . And again and again Loosli surprises with boundless imagination and his mischief , leads viewers to deception and thus to heightened curiosity .

In the handwritten utterance The world of the draftsman - game and dream Loosli describes how he perceives himself as a draftsman.

From 1952 he participated in exhibitions at home and abroad, for example in galleries in Bern , Zurich , Munich , Paderborn , Mannheim , Hamburg , New York , then in art fairs in Basel , Düsseldorf and the Biennale Saint Paul (Minnesota) and in museums like the Kunstmuseum Thun , Kunsthaus Glarus and Kunsthaus Zug . In 1994 he took part in the Cultura Svizzera exhibition in the Palazzina Presidenziale, Florence .

Loosli also devoted himself to book illustrations and the publication of his own books with drawings, watercolors, etchings, pen drawings and his own texts.

Concert singer

Arthur Loosli sings in the radio studio in Bern in 1964 in a direct broadcast with Eugen Huber at the piano.
Arthur Loosli on his 90th birthday in 2016
Arthur Loosli at the age of 92 on the occasion of the art exhibition in Thun next to his work Pastorale

In 1958 Loosli began to build up his concert activities at home and abroad. At song recitals he devoted himself to song cycles by Franz Schubert , Robert Schumann , and Othmar Schoeck . In the review of the recital with Franz Schubert's Winterreise , Der Bund wrote on February 27, 1961: “The extent to which the reproduction has grown out of a very personal examination of the work can be felt particularly clearly in the 'Lindenbaum', to which there was no trace of harmless emotional bliss which rather - without any dramatic exaggeration - received a mysterious novelty of expression that one would hardly trust this well-known song any more. "

His repertoire also included oratorios by Handel , the Passions and the Magnificat by JS Bach , the Requiem and the Masses by Mozart , The Creation and The Seasons by Haydn , Elias by Mendelssohn , the Requien by Verdi and Antonín Dvořák , La damnation de Faust by Berlioz and works of many contemporary composers to the War Requiem by Benjamin Britten .

In the Berner Tagwacht of April 20, 1965, about the performance of Bach's St. John Passion, the following was to be read: “At first, by a long way, Arthur Loosli's Christ was characterized by a distinctive personality, as he identified with the figure and the musical content , reached up to the most important role models. " At the same performance, the Tages-Nachrichten wrote on April 20, 1965: “I have never seen a Christ singer, not even Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau , who immersed himself in the words of Christ in the Passion and in his vocal performance with the sung word identified as Arthur Loosli. A wonderfully accomplished achievement by this extremely talented singer. " On May 10, 1967, the Bund reported on the B minor Mass by JS Bach about Arthur Loosli's "sonorous and mentally superior shaping of the bass solos".

The Berner Tagblatt of January 19, 1967 wrote about the performance of the Elegy , op. 36 by Othmar Schoeck : Arthur Loosli, bass-baritone, helped the work to be reproduced in a way that could hardly be surpassed. His vocal abilities mated with a literary sensibility of immediately compelling urgency. He avoided any exaggerated affect, designed with powerful simplicity and thus achieved a lyrical atmosphere of perfect balance between tone and word.

In Switzerland he sang in rural areas as well as in the important music centers. Abroad he gave concerts in Rome , Bergamo , Bari , Brescia , Genoa , Lucca , Mantua , Parma , Padua and Ravenna , in Amsterdam , Brussels , Besan , Stuttgart , Mannheim , Nuremberg , Stockholm and at the Festival of Wroclaw .

In the radio studio in Bern and at concert venues across Switzerland, performances took place from 1956 to around 1980, which were broadcast and recorded directly. Over the course of time, over 120 recordings were digitized. These include the oratorio Christ by Franz Liszt , the chorale passion by Hugo Distler , the chamber opera Mozart and the gray messenger by Armin Schibler and the Haslikantate to an Alpine saga by Jean Daetwyler .

The Bern Bach Choir was founded in 1966 on the initiative of the two brothers Arthur and Theo Loosli. The latter then also took over the choir direction.

Connection of two arts

1974 Records recording was the song cycle Winterreise by Franz Schubert with Charles Grenacher at the piano. 48 pen drawings by the singer Loosli are included in the libretto. In 1980, F. Schubert recorded Schwanengesang in the same line-up , this time with 14 pencil drawings. Four years earlier, the song cycle Unter Sternen by Othmar Schoeck to poems by Gottfried Keller was published , also with pictures and text by Arthur Loosli.

Art by Arthur Loosli

  • Flying cathedral. Etching 2000, 7.0 cm x 7.0 cm

  • Sinking cathedral. Pen and ink drawing 1967, 21.8 cm x 26.5 cm

  • Styx. Pen drawing 1969, 21.0 cm x 16.0 cm

  • Sailors. Pen drawing 1969, 19.5 cm x 14.0 cm

  • The wide. Etching 2000, 7.0 cm x 7.0 cm

  • La cathedrale blanche. Black colored pencil, heightened with white on a red-brown background, 2000, 100 cm x 70 cm

  • Exodus. Oil on tempera ground 1963, ca.16.0 cm x 16.0 cm

  • The pianist. Hand screen print 1974, 30.5 x 43 cm

  • Louis XIV touchant le clavecin, drypoint 1977, 32 x 50 cm with a light background

  • Louis XIV touchant le clavecin, drypoint 1977, 32 x 50 cm with a dark background

Publications

  • Orbis immaginatus. Six graphic cycles. Verlag Galerie Schindler, Bern 1966.
  • Arthur Loosli draws cathedrals. Drawings and graphics. Publishing house Stämpfli, Bern 1968.
  • Motifs. Drawings and texts. Stämpfli publishing house, Bern 1971.
  • Signum. Drawings and texts. Akzentverlag, Bern 1975.
  • Fantastic from Switzerland. Pen drawings. Literary magazine Drehpunkt . Basel 1976,
  • Tschipo. Drawings for texts by Franz Hohler . Luchterhand-Verlag, Darmstadt 1978.
  • Zoological boulders. Animal book by Franz Hohler with drawings and watercolors. Zytglogge-Verlag, Bern 1979.
  • The granite block in the cinema. Illustrations for texts by Franz Hohler. Luchterhand-Verlag, Darmstadt 1981.
  • Piranesiana. Variations on etchings by Piranesi . Book with drawings and texts. Zytglogge-Verlag, Bern 1982.
  • La Frode. Original etchings for the volume of novels by Leonardo Sciascia . Editione Taurus, Catania 1982.
  • Tschipo and the penguins. Drawings for the children's novel by Franz Hohler. Ravensburger Buchverlag, 1985.
  • Tschipo in the Stone Age. Drawings for the children's novel by Franz Hohler. Ravensburger Buchverlag, 1995.
  • On the trail of the dwarfs. Pen drawings for the text by Max Waibel. Verlag Krebser, Thun, 1998.
  • Capriccio. Engravings. Zytglogge Publishing House, 2001.

Sound carrier

CD recordings

  • Franz Schubert: Winter Journey . Arthur Loosli (bass-baritone), Karl Grenacher (piano). With text book and 48 pen drawings. Akzentverlag and Jecklin JS 268-2, 1974.
  • Robert Schumann: Heinrich Heine songs. Arthur Loosli (bass-baritone), Hans Walter Stucki (piano). Akzent WA 3152-2, 1989. Sonographic
  • Jan Dismas Zelenka : Missa Circumcisionis. Arthur Loosli (bass), Thurgauer Barockensemble, Raimund Rüegge (cond.) Swiss pan 510013. 1982.
  • Bohemian pastorels. Arthur Loosli (bass), Thurgauer Barockensemble, Raimund Rüegge (cond.) Swiss pan 510030. 1985.
  • Festive music from Bohemia. Arthur Loosli (bass), Thurgauer Barockensemble, Raimund Rüegge (cond.) Swiss pan 510047. 1992.
  • Sacred choral music of the Bohemian Classics. Arthur Loosli (bass), Thurgauer Barockensemble, Raimund Rüegge (cond.) Swiss pan 510043. 1989.
  • Othmar Schoeck : Reverberation op. 70. Arthur Loosli (bass-baritone), chamber ensemble from Radio Bern, conducted by Theo Loosli, Karl Grenacher (piano). Jecklin Disco 535-2. 1973.
  • Othmar Schoeck: Elegy op. 36. Arthur Loosli (bass-baritone), Bern Chamber Ensemble, Theo Hug (conductor). Jecklin Disco 510-2. 1967.
  • Othmar Schoeck: Unter Sternen op. 55. Arthur Loosli (baritone), Franz Kienberger (piano). Radio DRS, Studio Bern 2002.

LP recordings

  • Franz Schubert: swan song . Arthur Loosli (bass-baritone), Karl Grenacher (piano). LP with illustrated booklet from 1980. Accent recording: Sonographic AG, WA 3129.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach : St. John Passion . Arthur Loosli (bass, as Christ), Berner Bach Choir, Kammerensemble Bern, Theo Loosli (cond.). EMI 157-99 860/62. 1979
  • Antonín Dvořák : Requiem . Arthur Loosli (bass), Orchester de la suisse romande, François Pantillon (cond.). Live recording from Radio Lausanne. 1966.
  • Modest Mussorgsky : Boris Godunov . Arthur Loosli (bass), Bern Symphony Orchestra , François Pantillon (cond.) Concert recording in Biel in 1968.
  • Othmar Schoeck: Hike in the mountains. op. 45 / The silent glow. op. 60 / Under the stars. op.55. Arthur Loosli (bass-baritone), Karl Grenacher (piano). EMI SHZC 4004.
  • Jean Daetwyler : Haslikantate. Arthur Loosli (bass-baritone), Thun Gymnasium choir, Concertino Basel chamber orchestra, Bernhard Grossenbacher (cond.). Recording from Radio DRS 1982. Oreade 30-830, 1983.
  • Michael Glinka : La Vie pour le Tsar. Arthur Loosli (bass), Orchester et Chœurs des Gymnases de Neuchâtel, Georges-Henri Pantillon (cond.). Gallo 30-449. 1985.

Audio sample

literature

Web links

Commons : Arthur Loosli  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Marianne Mühlemann: Arthur Loosli has died - successful as a double gifted. In: The Bund. January 13, 2021, accessed January 13, 2021 .
  2. ↑ Franziska Streun, Jon Keller (ed.): Thun - A reading book. Zytglogge, p. 168.
  3. ↑ Margrit Kunz: A wide range of works of art. Berner Zeitung, June 4, 2018.
  4. ↑ Doris Bussmann: The artist says: "Dä het gschaffet!" Berner Zeitung , February 7, 2011.
  5. ↑ The manuscript The world of the draftsman - Spiel und Traum is privately owned by the Loosli family.
  6. ↑ Arthur Loosli: Capriccio - 7x7 copper engravings . Zytglogge, Gümligen 2001.
personal data
SURNAME Loosli, Arthur
SHORT DESCRIPTION Swiss concert singer and painter
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH La Chaux-d'Abel, Sonvilier
DATE OF DEATH January 5, 2021
Place of death Steffisburg