Schneewittchen (2000)

"Heinz Holliger is probably still better known as an exceptional oboist than as a composer. But this opera, completed in 1998, should help shift that imbalance. Forget Disney. This Snow White is based on a deeply unsettling play by Robert Walser, with whom Holliger has had a special relationship, across the gap of 60 years that separates them. (Holliger was born in 1939; Walser died in 1956) What they share, apart from Swiss nationality, is a quality of searching, a pushing at boundaries, a distrust of what everybody knows, and a sense of humor. Full of passionate expression, Walser's play makes a wonderful libretto, and Holliger honors it with a setting in which its words are clear. This is opera as song, in an intense lyrical style recalling Holliger's admiration for Webern. The lyricism and intensity extend also into the orchestra, where lines, colors and textures flick past almost before they can be recognized, producing a constantly renewed stream of expression and character." (P. Griffiths, NY Times)

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