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Muriel Zeiter (38), Fabian Bloch (36) and daughter Jael (7 months) in the living room of their newly built house in Wisen SO.
Jonas DreyfusEditor society
“We worked up a sweat a few times this year,” says Muriel Zeiter (38). “But in the end everything had a happy ending.” She sits with her husband Fabian Bloch (36) in the light-flooded living room of the house in Wisen near Olten in Solothurn, which the two had built. Zeiter is giving the bottle to their daughter Jael (7 months).
The father just missed the birth of his first child. When Jael was born he had just flown back to Switzerland from Manchester (UK) where he had been booked for a couple of gigs. That was on May 7th and a week before the expected due date. He and his wife are self-employed musicians and could not afford Bloch to cancel all engagements as a precaution. He came straight from the airport to the hospital and was still wearing the suit he wore when he performed in England.
The house should have been finished shortly before the birth
Jael listens with interest as her parents play a virtuosic piece – the mother on the piano, the father on the euphonium, a kind of tuba. An acoustician made sure that the living area sounds like a concert hall. The house should have been ready before she was born, but it wasn’t enough. “We were stationed in a rented apartment next door,” says Zeiter, “from which we should have moved out on time.” Fortunately, the next tenants were accommodating.
For musicians, the two live luxuriously. Bloch, who grew up in Wisen, says he was given the land on which the two-story house with the large window front stands as a gift from a relative. “We couldn’t have built it without this stroke of luck.” For professional reasons, the home of the two must be large and presentable, because it serves as a location for public events where the guests enjoy a menu prepared by a professional chef. Between courses, Zeiter and Bloch make an appearance. As a duo they call themselves Giovivo.
Because a pianist dropped out, they got together
The two met for the first time in 2014 while studying at the Bern University of the Arts. Zeiter comes from Fiesch in Valais. Both were in a relationship with other partners at the time and only knew each other briefly. When Bloch had to perform at a wedding a few years later and the pianist dropped out at short notice, he remembered his former classmate. She jumped in. Bloch and Zeiter became a couple. In December 2019 they performed together as a duo for the first time. Then Corona came.
As musicians, they were existentially threatened by the pandemic, says Zeiter. The lessons at the conservatory in Bern, where the two work, had to take place online. Suddenly they couldn’t perform anymore. The idea of giving living room concerts comes from the time when fewer and fewer people were allowed to attend events.
Happy coincidences rule their lives
The long-planned recordings for a first joint album that Giovivo recorded in Leipzig (D) also had to wait because of Corona. On February 4th of this year, “Serendipity” was finally released by the renowned German classical music label Genuin. It contains pieces from classical to jazz to folklore. The title track is by a British composer. “Serendipity” means happy coincidence. “It fits perfectly into our life,” says Zeiter.
Because each of them has built a reputation on the international music scene, they keep their respective surnames despite being married. Bloch: “Also since this year, by the way!”
Happy end!
The past year was overshadowed by the consequences of the pandemic and the Ukraine war – but many of us experienced happy moments. In a three-part series, we talk to people who have completed major projects in 2022.
The past year was overshadowed by the consequences of the pandemic and the Ukraine war – but many of us experienced happy moments. In a three-part series, we talk to people who have completed major projects in 2022.