Anne-Sophie Mutter Marks a Milestone with Box Set Release
But just exactly what is it about her 35th anniversary that stands out?
Anne-Sophie Mutter with bassist Roman Patkoló
Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter has a special memory for every recording she makes. She reminisces about each the way most people talk about a family member, a childhood pet, or a first date. “Every recording has a particular story and place in my heart,” she says. “I remember the process of each recording very vividly.”
In 35 years of recording, Mutter, 48, has accumulated a lot of stories. In September, Deutsche Grammophon released both a new CD of Mutter playing world premieres by Wolfgang Rihm, Sebastian Currier, and Krysztof Penderecki with the New York Philharmonic, and a 40-CD box set of Mutter’s 35-year recording history, including a previously unreleased recording from when she was 11 years old. The set was a bit of a family affair—her daughter, Arabella, chose the color scheme, and ex-husband and famed pianist/conductor André Previn contributed to the accompanying book.
But why 35 years?
“I’ve always been a person who loves any kind of celebration,” says Mutter, speaking on the phone from Germany. “I take any occasion to celebrate life, music, collaboration with friends.”
Not that she’s actually listened to the CDs recently. “Are you implying I’m sitting down, listening to all these 40 CDs? This would not be a celebration for me!” she says, laughing easily. “It’s at least as strenuous to listen as to play yourself.”
On that note, Mutter starts meandering through her memories of the recordings, beginning with the Korngold concerto. She was initially intimidated by Heifetz’s celebrated recording. “André said, ‘Why don’t you just make it your own,” she recalls, “ ‘and do things only you can do.’
“One of my serious goals was to play the last moment faster than Heifetz,” she adds. “And by a split second I was able to do that.”
The best memories of her recording career thus far are of those that captured live performances. “Because of the wonderful partners I had the privilege to work with, magic moments just happened, and you just fly along,” she says, mentioning a special, unspoken moment when recording the Brahms G major sonata with pianist Lambert Orkis.
Her recently completed 2010–11 residency with the New York Philharmonic yielded the premieres CD, fond memories of sharing new music—something she’s passionate about—and collaborations with bassist Roman Patkoló.
And she hopes her performances created memories for others, as well.
“When someone like Anne-Sophie Mutter plays a new piece, the audience is drawn in because they know her and they trust her—she uses her capacity, ability, and reputation to bring the audience along with her,” music director Alan Gilbert said at the time her residency was announced.
But while she doesn’t listen to her old recordings, Mutter is certainly aware that her playing has changed. In particular, her interpretation of the Mozart concertos has become more vertical, with a more lean and transparent sound, she says. And she now prefers to use a Baroque bow and play with a smaller orchestra. This season, Mutter will be playing, without a conductor, all five Mozart concertos with the Boston Symphony.
As for the next 35 years?
Mutter laughs, not ready to think so far ahead in the future. She plans to record more chamber music, especially piano trios, and would love to record the Dvorak concerto, which she says is often neglected by other violinists. “It’s a gorgeous piece, with wonderful tunes and an incredible, difficult beginning, like the Queen of the Night aria,” she says.
She will continue recording with the Deutsche Grammophon label, a relationship that she calls “stable and really positive,” especially because it allows her to record new music and gives her a great deal of artistic freedom.
The only challenge has been that, since the death of her trusted sound engineer, Guenter Herrmann, some years ago, she has yet to find the perfect collaborator. “This has been a matter of great concern of mine, that I have not yet found a sound engineer of that caliber,” she says. “Every recording has a different sound engineer, and this is something that makes me rather fidgety and nervous.”
But 35 years?
She reconsiders the question, and mentions that she recently had a conversation with composer Pierre Boulez, who is writing her a violin concerto. “That will be my project, the Boulez concerto,” she says. “Give me 35 years and I’ll be brilliant at it!”
And that undoubtedly will be another story.
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