Heinz Holliger & Anton Kernjak: Éventail
ECM New Series

In liner notes for Éventail, Swiss oboist Heinz Holliger argues for the closeness of his instrument to the human voice, a claim that finds ample support in the programme of early twentieth-century French music he curated for the recital. Intoxicating pierces by Fauré, Ravel, Debussy, Messiaen, and others do much to amplify the vocal-like quality of the woodwind, as do Holliger's own sinuous renderings thereof. Thirteen selections in total appear on this enticing set of “songs without words,” with sonatas by Saint-Saëns and Robert Casadesus the only two that are not single-movement statements.

Holliger's front and centre throughout, with sterling accompaniment provided by Austrian pianist Anton Kernjak (who was with the oboist on his 2014 recording Aschenmusik) and on André Jovilet's Controversia French harpist Alice Belugou. Holliger's also recognized as a composer of note, as witnessed by the positive reception his award-winning operas Schneewittchen and Lunea have received. With the oboist also playing oboe d'amore, Éventail finds him in full performer mode, however, and the recording hardly suffers as a result.

Holliger performs with his customary finesse, and his partners do the same. Recorded in October 2021in Zürich, the release seduces the moment Ravel's Pièce en forme de Habanera initiates the set with Kernjak's hushed chords and Holliger's commanding essaying of the material. Kaddish, the other Ravel selection performed, is suitably solemn and reverential in keeping with a work titled after the Jewish prayer for the dead. If a Spanish flavour can be detected in Pièce en forme de Habanera, a hint of Brazilian folk similarly seeps into Milhaud's Vocalise-Étude. Moving between tremulous moments and animated episodes, Saint-Saëns' Sonate, op.166 sparkles, during its irresistibly charming “Allegretto” in particular. If anything, the composer's second selection on the release, Le rossignol, beguiles even more.

Holliger performs Debussy's Syrinx and Petite pièce on oboe d'amore, which he argues “calls to mind the veiled tone of the clarinet.” Certainly the alluring quality of the oboe d'amore is enhanced when the instrument's played sans accompaniment on Syrinx and the piece that follows it, Charles Koechlin's Le repos de Tityre. Messiaen's likewise represented by two serpentine pieces, Vocalise-Étude and Morceau de lecture, the former even once played by Holliger in the company of the composer.

In contrast to the bite-sized duration of the other pieces, Controversia, written in 1968 for oboe and harp by André Jolivet (dubbed “the only important French composer influenced by Edgar Varèse” by Holliger), pushes past eleven minutes. The oboist's joined by Belugou in an explorative travelogue that's by turns mysterious, probing, and dazzling. Casadesus's 1936 Sonate, op.23 proves to be a fitting choice to conclude the recording, distilling as it does so many of its core features into a single presentation. It's an important piece for another reason too: Holliger's teacher Émile Cassagnaud had planned to record the sonata with the composer, but as that never happened Holliger was determined to end his French recital with the work. Look no further than its radiant “Tempo di sardana” to argue on behalf of the choice.

Éventail is issued under both Holliger and Kernjak's names, but, with no slight meant to the pianist, the release could have been credited to the oboist only, given how dominant his presence is on the recording. That said, one of the release's primary pleasures definitely has to do with monitoring the graceful dialogue the oboist and pianist enact from one performance to the next.

November 2023