Anne-Sophie Mutter (born June 29, 1963) is a German violin virtuoso.
Biography
Mutter was born in Rheinfelden, Germany. She began playing the piano at age five, and shortly afterwards the violin, studying with Erna Honigberger, a pupil of Carl Flesch. Upon Honigberger's death, she continued her studies with Aida Stucki, at the Winterthur Conservatory.
After winning several prizes, she was exempted from school to dedicate herself to her art. When she was 13, conductor Herbert von Karajan invited her to play with the Berlin Philharmonic. In 1977, she made her debut at the Salzburg Festival and with the English Chamber Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim. At 15, Mutter made her first recording of the Mozart Third and Fifth violin concerti with von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic.
In 1980, she made her American debut with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. In 1985, at the age of 22, she was made an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Music (London) and head of its faculty of international violin studies. In 1988, she made a grand tour of Canada and the United States, playing for the first time at Carnegie Hall. In 1998 she played and recorded for CD and DVD the complete set of Beethoven's Violin Sonatas, accompanied by Lambert Orkis; these were broadcast on television in many countries.
Though her repertoire includes many classical works, Mutter is particularly known for her performances of contemporary music. A number of pieces have been especially written for or dedicated to her, including Henri Dutilleux's Sur le Même Accord, Witold Lutosławski's Partita, Krzysztof Penderecki's Second Violin Concerto and Wolfgang Rihm's Gesungene Zeit ("Time Chant"). In August 2007, she premiered Sofia Gubaidulina's Violin Concerto No. 2 "In tempus präsens". She has received various prizes, including several Grammys. She also owns two Stradivarius violins (The Emiliani of 1703, and the Lord Dunn-Raven of 1710) and a Regazzi, dated 2005.[1]
In October 2006, on French television, Mutter appeared to indicate that she would be retiring when she turned 45, in 2008.[2] However the following month she said that her words were "misinterpreted" and that she would continue to play as long as she felt she could "bring anything new, anything important, anything different to music".[3]
Personal life
In 1989, Mutter married her first husband, Detlef Wunderlich, with whom she had two children, Arabella and Richard. Detlef died of cancer in 1995.[4] She married the pianist and conductor André Previn in 2002.[5]
However, on 21 August 2006, Mutter's office announced that she and Previn had divorced. The couple were rumoured to have separated three months previously, but confirmed their divorce as of the above date.[6]
Awards and recognitions
Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:
- Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lambert Orkis for Beethoven: The Violin Sonatas (Nos. 1-3, Op. 12; Nos. 1-3, Op. 30; "Spring" Sonata) (2000)
Sonning Award (2001; Denmark)
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra):
- Anne-Sophie Mutter and André Previn (conductor) for Previn: Violin Concerto "Anne-Sophie"/Bernstein: Serenade (2005)
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, First Class
Herbert von Karajan award (2003) [7]
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2005)
Victoires de la Musique Classique (2006)
Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (2008)
Partial discography
On Deutsche Grammophon:
- Mozart Violin Concertos Nos. 3 & 5 (1978)
- Beethoven Triple Concerto (1980)
- Brahms Violin Concerto (1982)
- Brahms Double Concerto (1983)
- Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (1988)
- Lutosławski Partita & Chain 2/Stravinsky Violin Concerto (1988)
- Beethoven: The String Trios (1989)
- Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2/Moret En Rêve (1991)
- Berg Violin Concerto/Rihm Time Chant (1992)
- Carmen-Fantasie (1993)
- Romance (1995)
- Sibelius Violin Concerto (1995)
- The Berlin Recital (1996)
- Brahms Violin Concerto/Schumann Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra (1997)
- Penderecki Violin Concerto No. 2/Bartok Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 (1997)
- Beethoven The Violin Sonatas (1998)
- Vivaldi The Four Seasons (1999)
- Recital 2000 (2000)
- Lutosławski Partita for Violin and Orchestra/Chain 2 (2002)
- Beethoven Violin Concerto (2002)
- Tango Song and Dance (2003)
- Previn Violin Concerto/Bernstein Serenade (2003)
- Tchaikovsky & Korngold Violin Concertos (2004)
- Dutilleux Sur le même accord/Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2/Stravinsky Concerto en ré (2005)
- Mozart The Violin Concertos (2005)
- Mozart Piano Trios K502, K542, K548 (2006)
- Mozart The Violin Sonatas (August 2006)
- Simply Anne-Sophie (2006)
On EMI Classics:
- Mozart Violin Concertos Nos. 2 & 4 (1982)
- Bach Violin Concertos/Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra (1983)
- Brahms Violin Sonatas (1983)
- Vivaldi The Four Seasons (1984)
- Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole/Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen (1985)
- Mozart Violin Concerto No. 1, Sinfonia Concertante (1991)
On Erato:
- Glazunov Violin Concerto/Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 (1989)
References
- ^ Dynamic CDT5092
- ^ Perkins, David (2006-11-14). "Mutter still takes her music seriously", Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2008-05-03. "Yes, yes, I said it. It is my plan to stop when I reach my 45th birthday."
- ^ Brookes, Stephen (19 November 2006). "Violinist Mutter, Revving Her Motor", The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2006-11-21.
- ^ Kjemtrup, Inge (January 2006). "Goddess with a Gift". Strings (135). “Every tragedy, or every really wonderful moment in your life, changes you as a person, and hopefully makes you a better person, more sensible, more sensitive, more caring — more thankful for life.”
- ^ "Previn weds Anne-Sophie Mutter", BBC News (4 August 2002).
- ^ "Conductor André Previn to divorce", BBC News (21 August 2006).
- ^ "Anne-Sophie Mutter wins top award", BBC News (15 June 2003).
External links
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