Caroline "Bokken" Lasson (7 January 1871 – 3 August 1970) was a Norwegian concert and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

singer. She is known for starting the Oslo cabaret

Chat Noir Chat Noir (French for 'black cat') is a cabaret and revue theatre in Oslo, Norway. It was established in 1912 by Bokken Lasson. The current director is Tom Sterri. Establishment Chat Noir was established as a cabaret in 1912 by singer Bokken Las ...

in 1912, and also for introducing the children's song "Tuppen og Lillemor" to the Norwegian public.

Early and personal life

Caroline Lasson was born in Christiania as the daughter of lawyer Christian Otto Carl Lasson and Alexandra Cathrine Henriette von Munthe af Morgenstierne. She was a granddaughter of lawyer and politician Peder Carl Lasson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway. She was a sister of composer

Per Lasson Per Lasson (April 18, 1859 — June 6, 1883) was a Norwegian composer. Biography He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of barrister Christian Lasson (1830–93) and Alexandra Cathrine Henriette von Munthe af Morgenst ...

and painter

Oda Krohg Oda Krohg (born Othilia Pauline Christine Lasson; 11 June 1860 – 19 October 1935) was a Norwegian painter, and the wife of her teacher and colleague Christian Krohg. Biography She was the second daughter of public attorney Christian ...

, and sister-in-law of the painters Christian Krohg and

Frits Thaulow Frits Thaulow (20 October 1847 – 5 November 1906) was a Norwegian Impressionist painter, best known for his naturalistic depictions of landscape. Biography Johan Frederik Thaulow was born in Christiania, the son of a wealthy chemist, Haral ...

. She had a close relation to the Danish writer

Holger Drachmann Holger Henrik Herholdt Drachmann (9 October 1846 – 14 January 1908) was a Danish poet, dramatist and painter. He was a member of the Skagen artistic colony and became a figure of the Scandinavian Modern Breakthrough Movement. Early yea ...

, who later married her sister. She was married to Russian writer Michael Semionovitsch Feofanoff from 1904 to 1916, and to barrister and songwriter Vilhelm Dybwad from 1916. She died in Oslo in 1970, 99 years old.

Career

Lasson took song lessons with

Eva Nansen Eva Helene Nansen (née Sars; 17 December 1858 – 9 December 1907) was a celebrated Norwegian mezzo-soprano singer. She was also a pioneer of women's skiing. Personal life Born in Christiania (now Oslo), she was a daughter of priest and profes ...

, and later song education in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. She made her concert debut in 1894, at Brødrene Hals' concert house in Kristiania. She started touring in 1895, visiting many European cities, singing while accompanying herself playing lute. She advanced from street singer to performing at cabarets and restaurants, and occasionally in musical comedies and plays, including performances at the Königliche Hoftheater in Stuttgart. After several years of touring she settled in Kristiania, where she had singing roles at musical comedies at Centraltheatret and Fahlstrøms Teater. In 1912, together with her later husband Vilhelm Dybwad, Lasson started the cabaret

in Oslo, modelled after the Paris cabaret

Le Chat Noir Le Chat Noir (; French for "The Black Cat") was a nineteenth-century entertainment establishment, in the bohemian Montmartre district of Paris. It was opened on 18 November 1881 at 84 Boulevard de Rochechouart by the impresario Rodolphe Salis, ...

. Vilhelm Dybwad wrote songs for the cabaret, and her nephew Per Krohg made the first stage decorations. To start with, Chat Noir was a literary cabaret, and among its contributors were the poets

Herman Wildenvey Herman Wildenvey (20 July 1885 – 27 September 1959), born Herman Theodor Portaas, was one of the most prominent Norwegian poets of the twentieth century. During his lifetime he published 44 books of his own poetry, in addition to translati ...

and

Arnulf Øverland Ole Peter Arnulf Øverland (27 April 1889 – 25 March 1968) was a Norwegian poet and artist. He is principally known for his poetry which served to inspire the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway during Wor ...

. Bokken Lasson chaired the Chat Noir until 1917, and the cabaret has lasted until today, more than hundred years. She made her first song recording in 1912, the songs "Tuppen og Lillemor" and "Det lille Vandspand". The 1912 recording of "Tuppen og Lillemor" is also found on the 1983 album . In the late 1920s, she started the Cabaret Intime, where she performed herself, along with other musicians such as

Kirsten Flagstad Kirsten Malfrid Flagstad (12 July 1895 – 7 December 1962) was a Norwegian opera singer, who was the outstanding Wagnerian soprano of her era. Her triumphant debut in New York on 2 February 1935 is one of the legends of opera. Giulio Gatti-Casa ...

, Maja Flagstad,

Cally Monrad Ragnhild Caroline Monrad (31 July 1879, Gran, Oppland – 23 February 1950) was a Norwegian singer, actress and poet. She studied singing in Dresden, stayed in Berlin for a long time, toured with Edvard Grieg, performed for King Oscar II, Haa ...

and

Lalla Carlsen Lalla Carlsen (née Haralda Petrea Christensen) (17 August 1889 – 23 March 1967) was a Norwegian singer and actress. She is regarded as one of the most legendary female revue artists in Norway. Personal life Lalla Carlsen was born in Svelvik ...

. Bokken Lasson was interested in antroposophy, educated at the Steiner school, was an active song educator, and continued her song career by giving concerts and being guest artist in musical comedies. She has published song books and autobiographical books. In 1962 a bronze statue of her was revealed in Homansbyen in Oslo, sculptured by Joseph Grimeland.

Select bibliography

* , 1920 * , 1931 * , 1938 * , 1940 * , 1947

Selected recordings

*"Tuppen og Lillemor" (1912) *"Det lille Vandspand" (1912) *"Maisangen" (1912) *"Sorte øine" (1912) *"Dukkerne" (1913) *"O du søde glade jul" (1913) *"Pierrot henter månen" (1913) *"Hvor meget må man tjene" (1957) *"Våren i Kristiania" (1957)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lasson, Bokken 1871 births 1970 deaths Musicians from Oslo 19th-century Norwegian women singers Norwegian memoirists Anthroposophists