"Young Muth exhibits a high degree of musical expressiveness, with convincing interpretations and an endless stream of freshness. - International Record Review
☆ "Karajan taught me to find commonalities throughout the music from the score, to think about the internal logic of the music, and then to decide the direction in which the music drives... Instead of playing the long strings of notes in the score one by one, but the proper configuration of the musical ideas, this special power is still deeply rooted in me." —Anne Sophie Mutter
If Mutt hadn't met Karajan in her life, what would have happened to her? Naturally, we don't know this.
However, we know how wonderful, brilliant and dazzling Mute's life after meeting Karajan is!
In 1976, at the age of 12, Mutter performed Bach's "Chakon" and other pieces at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, which surprised the entire violin world with lightning speed and received great acclaim. However, what she did not expect was that this actually attracted the attention of the "Commanding Emperor" Karajan.
And soon after, the luck that changed Mutt's life from then on crept in— Karayo asked her to meet. However, the good thing was that Mutt did not know that Karajan was visiting, so he refused the meeting on the grounds that "it is holiday time, I need to rest". Dare to make Karajan eat "closed door soup" in this way, it is really bold! Fortunately, Karajan was not angry, but in two months, the two officially reached a meeting.
In this regard, Mutter later said: "Thinking back to the ignorance and ignorance at that time, I almost called myself landless, and I never dared to imagine how much my life might be lost by that stubborn attitude."
Being able to be met twice by Karajan, you can imagine how outstanding Mutter's own charm and playing ability can be appreciated, and Karajan praised Mute as "the most outstanding musical genius since Menuhin".
In the months since the meeting, Mutte's name appeared on the berliner Philharmonic concert schedule. She then toured with Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker.
It was not until 1978, at the age of 14, that she collaborated with Karajan and the Berliner Philharmonic to record her first album, Mozart's Violin Concerto Nos. 3 and No. 5, which was smooth musicality and confident interpretation, and this collaboration quickly established her reputation in the international music scene. At this time, Mutt's Interpretation of Mozart, each note is handled in a meticulous, euphemistic and non-de-spiritual manner.
You know, Mozart's works give great restrictions to the randomness of the melody, but Murt can quickly find his own space to play in this narrow range, and he is still so young, how many people can do this powerful skill?
In 1979, the two of them collaborated again to release Beethoven's Violin Concerto, Beethoven only composed one violin concerto in his lifetime, and even if there was only one, its status was unyielding, and it was known as the "Four Violin Concertos" along with brahms, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky in the same genre.
In this edition of the recording, we see a typical Beethoven-style work under their interpretation – neat, layered, German at a glance. It can be heard that at that time, Mutt was still very pure in playing, without excessive kneading of strings, the piano tone was clean, full of emotion, and even a little more cute. The contrast with Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker elevates the dynamic balance between solo and concertos to a new level, while maintaining the fluidity of the music.
In the early works of Mutt and Karajan, in addition to Mozart and Beethoven, in 1980, their collaboration on the Mendelssohn and Bruch Violin Concertos gradually pushed Murt's playing career to the peak.
This recording is one of Mutter's best performances in her early years, and her performance is completely different from the style of Perlman, Milstein and others. In terms of performance speed, it is generally considered to be slow. But it is precisely this so-called "slowness" that makes Mendelssohn's concerto more prominent in a feeling of flowing water, not rushing, joy and spring, leisure and elegance in each clear and recognizable note, giving the music a completely different soul and life.
A hit at the age of fifteen, Mutter's musicality has been changing with age, and these changes are particularly evident in her early three albums. Mutter's confident, lyrical tone, unhurried general's style and delicate and lustrous piano tone, combined with Karajan's Berliner Philharmonic, provided her with the perfect musical support that has made these records a bestseller to this day.
Mutt & Karajan's Early Concerto Recording Set
In 2018, in order to commemorate the 110th anniversary of Karajan's birth and the 40th anniversary of Mutt's release of records on DG, it fully witnessed this legendary story of "Bole and Maxima". DG has specially re-transcribed the three albums that Mutter collaborated with Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker in his early years with today's high-quality Blu-ray CD technology, with 24bit/192kHz technology, with a 60-page luxurious three-Chinese commentary book, and asked German music critic and music biographer Jürgen Kesting to re-release them as 3CD+1 Blu-ray CD, commemorating this irreplaceable classic collaboration in music history.
Mut & Karajan, Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
In 1988, at the Salzburg Festival, Mutter, Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performed Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D minor. The Vienna Philharmonic was the orchestra that premiered the song with Lao Chai's friend Brodsky, and a hundred years later, the Vienna Philharmonic, which witnessed its changing status, seemed to give this recording extraordinary significance.
It was also the last record mute recorded with Karajan. The year that followed, Karajan died. In a sense, this record has the meaning of "no singing".
In this recording, Karajan uses a slower speed to process, the whole song has a sense of eloquence, perhaps some people will not be accustomed to this speed, but if you taste it carefully, you will find that there is a kind of distance and expansiveness that other versions do not have.
Mutt's performance is powerful, colorful, and feminine. The handling of individual details may still be a little lacking, but overall, Mutter's performance has shown a very valuable general's style beyond his real age (25 years old).
Music fan reviews
1. Sure enough, Karajan's version is slower and can hold the momentum! Contrasts with Heifetz's version are different.
2. I really like this version, and the female performer can hold the delicacy and lyricism of the good, like the girl who shed tears at the grand dance.
3. The slower symphonic accompaniment gives Mutter plenty of room to play. Having heard Hayfitz play this work, it reflects speed and strength, and Mutter embodies it more delicately.
4. The sound of this piano is particularly mellow and not harsh. It's quite slow, and Karajan can be easily controlled.
Mut & Karajan
A legendary tale in the classical music scene
【Original Import】
Early Years Concerto Recording Set
(Eu 3CD+1BD)
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto CD Mut & Karajan