Lieuwe Visser

In Dorian Gray

The bas Lieuwe Visser was born on 23 augustus 1939 in Diemen, near Amsterdam in thé North of The Netherlands. Noord-Holland. Initially, he worked as a historian, but after he discovered his voice he studied singing with Jo van de Meent in Amsterdam. he continued his vocal studies with Giorgio Favaretto at the Academia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He completed his studies with the Studio of the Dutch Opera Foudation, where he made his debut in 1973 as Don Basilio in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Following his debut, he sang a plenitude of roles in a variety of repertoire, ranging from Monteverdi to Dutch contemporary composers such as Hans Kox and Theo Loevendie. Outside The Netherlands Visser appeared in Germany, Belgium, France (Opera of Toulouse), Engeland (Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Glyndebourne Festival, 1981), Austria (1980, Karinthischen Sommer in Ossiach) and The United States. At the Vocal Competition of Toulouse he won the Golden Medal. In 1966 he already participated in the Holland Festival and onwards he appeared in many world premieres, a. o. Hans Kox' Dorian Gray (1974), Konrad Böhmer's Dr. Faustus (1985), Theo Loevendie's operas Esmée, and Gassir the Hero (1991), Guus Janssen's Noach (1995), Willem van Manen's Roger Roger and Kees Olthuis' De naam van de maan. In 1983 he participated in the Centre Français Lyrique Paris world premiere of H.K. Gruber's opera Frankenstein. Apart from serious opera roles, he also appears in buffo parts, while his concert appearances include the most divers works for voice and orchestra, as well as song, both classic and modern repertoire..

His first steps in singing Lieder were made alongside pianists Rudolf Jansen and Felix de Nobel. In concert he appeared with such notable conductors as Bernard Haitink, Edo de Waart, Hans Vonk, Bruno Maderna, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Reinbert de Leeuw, Charles Dutoit and many others. He was the reciter in all works composed by Schönberg that included spoken parts. For his interpretation of Theo Loevendie's The nightingale he received the prestigious Dutch Edison Award.

Throughout the 1980's and 1990's, Lieuwe Visser was one of the most important Dutch basses.Following his singing career, he bcame a vocal teacher at the Conservatory of Maastricht.

F.Busoni, Goethe-lieder: "Schlechter Trost", VARA 1982

Lieuwe Visser died on Tuesday, March 4, in hs residence Amsterdam.