“The Big Wig” is a masterpiece by the multi-talented vocal marvel Andreas Schaerer. This is a work which situates him quite clearly and definitively among the most important composers and interpreters of contemporary music of his generation. There have been plenty of occasions in the past when combinations of a symphony orchestra and a jazz combo turned out to be a car crashes. In this case the partnership turns out to be both stimulating and compelling. There is no activity which is in the background or subsidiary, every instrumental voice is at the heart of the action, including the pairs of harps and marimbas. This is symphonic music of a new kind. It doesn’t so much pass through genre boundaries; it no longer perceives them or acknowledges their existence. “The Big Wig” is a masterpiece by the multi-talented vocal marvel Andreas Schaerer. This is a work which situates him quite clearly and definitively among the most important composers and interpreters of contemporary music of his generation.