Heinz Holliger

Heinz Holliger, one of the great oboists of our time, was born in Langenthal in the Swiss canton of Berne in 1939. He has made authoritative recordings of the standard repertoire (some with ECM, including a benchmark album of Zelenka's trio sonatas) and considerably enlarged the technical range of his instrument. Many leading composers from Luciano Berio to Isang Yun have written works for him. His conducting career began in 1977 with the Basel Chamber Orchestra. Since then he has stood at the head of all the major orchestras, including the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez. His recordings for ECM include Scardanelli Cycle, his Robert Walser cycle Beiseit, Lieder ohne Worte, the opera Schneewittchen and the Violin Concerto. An earlier version of Romancendres (recorded in 2008) with Christoph Richter and Dénes Várjon, can be heard on the album of the same name.