Gramophone Magazine
September 2019
Editor's Choice

Heinz Holliger (oboe/cor anglais/piano), Marie-Lise Schüpbach (cor anglais/oboe), Ernesto Molinari (bass clarinet/ contrabass clarinet), Sarah Wegener (soprano), Philippe Jaccottet (speaker)

Kurtág: ... Ein Brief aus der Ferne an Ursula
Holliger: Berceuse pour M.
Kurtág: ... fur Heinz …
Holliger: Die Ros‘
Kurtág: Die Ros‘
Philippe Jaccottet: Airs – Sept poèmes
Holliger: Airs - Sept poèmes

Released to mark Heinz Holliger’s 80th birthday (on 21 May), this recording Zwiegespräche – “Dialogues” – is the perfect embodiment of his dual artistry as performer and composer.

Zwiegespräche begins with the intensely moving sound of Heinz Holliger’s oboe calling out into the wild, in a piece written for him by his longstanding friend György Kurtág. Then comes a response composed by him, played on cor anglais by his pupil Marie-Lise Schüpbach. From here the conversation develops, of two composers who, from their solitary positions, strive to makecontact with one another – and with us. The many pieces are, as is typical for both composers, short. Six and a half minutes here is an epic, and many of the messages are over in under a minute. Such dimensions invite us to listen closely, to every turning nuance, and our attention is rewarded, by music-making that is at once emphatic and fine-grained.

"This disc celebrates the 80th birthday of Heinz Holliger, and although it explores his interpretative gifts as a performer rather than his full range as a composer, its focus on the dialogues between his own music and that of György Kurtág makes for a beautifully rounded double portrait." - Gramophone Magazine, September 2019.