Thomas Zehetmair, Heinz Holliger - Holliger: Violinkonzert "Hommage à Louis Soutter" (2004)

Depending on one's tolerance for puzzles, Heinz Holliger's Violin Concerto is either a meaningful tribute to an obscure artist or an indecipherable jumble hidden behind layers of extraneous associations. Commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the work is an homage to the erstwhile last chair of the OSR's second violins, Louis Soutter; and, perhaps secondarily, to his teacher, Eugene Ysaÿe. No matter that Soutter was fired by Ernest Ansermet, and afterwards lived in poverty as an outcast. He was, more importantly, a visionary painter, a prophet of doom on the eve of World War II, and quite likely the most fascinating figure Heinz Holliger never met. Yet the tangled connections Holliger draws for his inspiration barely explain his concerto, which is best regarded as an abstract piece without all the fussy background. Granted, it plays off Ysaÿe's Sonata, Op. 27, and violinist Thomas Zehetmair helpfully provides that solo work as a prologue. But the concerto itself, performed astringently by Zehetmair and the SWR Sinfonieorchester, led by Holliger, is a confusing pileup of extra musical references, avant-garde histrionics, and doom-laden dirges, and Holliger's breathless liner notes do little to clarify his severe and uninviting music. ECM's recording covers a wide dynamic range, so a medium volume level is advised.