A Portrait

The internationally renowned oboist Victor Aviat was a soloist for 20 years with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, the Orchestra Mozart under Claudio Abbado, and the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Ivan Fischer. He also studied piano, composition, and conducting. His first work as a composer was performed in 2019 by the Orchestre National de France under the direction of his stepfather, Emmanuel Krivine. Victor Aviat passed away in Berlin on May 1, 2025, following a sudden illness. This double album is a tribute to this multifaceted artist. Victor was also a painter and the author of poems that he set to music and performed himself. Therefore, the album contains pieces for oboe and piano by Robert Schumann (recorded in 2024 with pianist Kim Barbier) and 17 of Victor Aviat's own songs. The booklet for this double album contains some of his paintings and a text he wrote "to young musicians." Like his self-portrait, in which his face is half-immersed in darkness, Victor Aviat's songs offer us insights into his inner life and feelings through allusions and hints, keeping the memory of Victor Aviat, the artist and the man, alive.