ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER
A Biographical Timeline
Watching Mutter play is a pleasure, and not merely because she is beautiful. Her technique is effortless and natural; she seems to have four equally strong fingers that can stretch in every direction. Her bow arm is wonderfully relaxed, her motions are fluid and economical; her bow changes are smooth and inaudible; her tone is famous for its creamy luxuriousness.
Strings (San Rafael, CA), May 2009
Anne-Sophie Mutter was born in Rheinfelden in Baden (Germany). She embarked on inter¬national career as a soloist in 1976 at the Lucerne Festival and a year later made Salzburg debut at the Whitsun Concerts under Herbert von Karajan, followed by first appearances in the US (1980), Japan (1981) and Russia (1985). She made her first recording for Deutsche Grammophon at the age of 14: Mozart violin concertos with Karajan and Berliner Phil¬harmoniker, with whom she later also recorded the Mendelssohn, Bruch, Brahms and Beethoven.
The violinist has also committed herself to alleviating the medical and social problems our times and gives regular benefit concerts to this end. She has been the recipient numerous important honours and distinctions from the governments of Germany, Austria and France, as well as from the states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and the city Munich. In 2008 she was awarded the international Ernst von Siemens Music Prize and donated half of the prize money to the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, whose objective is to further increase worldwide support for promising young musicians. The same year also received Leipzig’s Mendelssohn Prize. Her recordings have been crowned with innumerable prizes.
1986Appointed to the International Chair of Violin Studies at the Royal Academy Music in London. First performance of Lutosławski’s Chain 2, with the Zurich Collegium Musicum under its dedicatee Paul Sacher
1987Founds the Rudolf Eberle Trust, which supports young string players throughout Europe. This foundation’s activities are complemented ten years later by establish¬ment of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Circle of Friends Foundation
1988Introduces Norbert Moret’s En rêve, which is recorded and released in 1991. Releases this year: violin concertos by Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, and Lutos¬ławski’s Chain 2 and Partita for Violin, Piano and Orchestra. Extended recital tour of Canada and the US
1990The Anne-Sophie Mutter Festival in London and Stuttgart ranges from the Baroque to the contemporary
1991Recording and release of Bartók’s Violin Concerto no. 2
1992Appears at the Tanglewood and Ravinia festivals in the US. Plays the premiere Wolfgang Rihm’s Gesungene Zeit; release of the Rihm work, coupled with the Berg Concerto (Internationaler Schallplattenpreis Frankfurt 1993; Grammy®, Edison, Classic CD Awards 1994; Golden Harmony Award 1995)
1993Release of Carmen Fantasy, with Levine and the Wiener Philharmoniker
1994World premiere of Sebastian Currier’s Aftersong with Lambert Orkis in Kiel
1995World premiere of Penderecki’s Metamorphosen. Release of Sibelius’s Violin Concerto and other works by him, with Sir André Previn and the Dresden Staatskapelle (CD Compact Award, Barcelona, 1996; Edison Award 1997)
1996Release of the The Berlin Recital with pianist Lambert Orkis
1998Records and performs exclusively Beethoven’s violin sonatas all over the world with Orkis (Echo Award 1999; Grammy® 2000). Other releases include the premiere recording of Penderecki’s Second Violin Concerto, dedicated to her, with the composer conducting the London Symphony (Grammy®1999)
1999Release of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, with Anne-Sophie Mutter as soloist and conduc¬tor of the Trondheim Soloists (Amadeus Music, Golden Harmony Awards 2000)
2000Back to the Future project: a retrospective of 20th-century major violin repertoire with concerts in the US and Europe and on CD. Tour and recording of Recital 2000, works by Prokofiev, Crumb, Webern and Respighi with Orkis (CD Compact Award, Barcelona, 2000). Premiere of Penderecki’s Violin Sonata, commissioned by Anne-Sophie Mutter
2001 Performances on two evenings of Mozart’s complete violin concertos, as artist-in-residence at New York’s Carnegie Hall and as soloist and conductor of the Wiener Philharmoniker in Vienna and Germany
2002Recording sessions include works by Brahms, Fauré, Gershwin, Kreisler and Tango Song and Dance, composed for her by Previn. Tours Germany and Switzerland with Orkis and Lynn Harrell, performing piano trios by Beethoven, Brahms and Men¬delssohn. Premieres Previn’s Violin Concerto “Anne-Sophie”, written for her. At the Royal Festival Hall she plays the world premiere of Dutilleux’s Sur le même accord, dedicated to her, and records it with Kurt Masur conducting the Orchestre national de Paris (Echo Award 2005 “World-Premiere Recording of the Year”). Performs the Beethoven Concerto with Masur and the New York Philharmonic; the recording wins a CD Compact Award, Barcelona, 2002 and an Echo Award 2003. Plays and conducts the Mozart concertos with the Wiener Philharmoniker at the Salzburg Festival
2003Concerts in Europe with the Oslo Philharmonic and Previn performing Previn’s Concerto. The CD Tango Song and Dance furnishes the programme of a European recital tour with Orkis. Performs and records Tchaikovsky’s Concerto with Previn and the Wiener Philharmoniker. Release: Bernstein’s Serenade with the London Symphony and Previn’s Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony, both under Previn (Grammy® 2005)
2004Appearances with the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors, presenting contemporary works composed for or dedicated to her by Dutilleux, Lutosławski, Rihm and Previn, as well as traditional concertos and chamber music. Release: concertos by Korngold and Tchaikovsky with Previn conducting the London Symphony and Wiener Philharmoniker respectively (Echo Award 2005 “Instru mentalist of the Year”)
2005The season 2005/06 features a comprehensive homage to Mozart: she performs the concertos and Sinfonia concertante (with Yuri Bashmet) as soloist and conductor of the Salzburg Camerata and the London Philharmonic; with Orkis she performs the violin sonatas on a world tour; and with Previn and Müller-Schott she plays the piano trios in Europe. Release of Mozart’s violin concertos, with Anne-Sophie Mutter as soloist and conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra
2006Appearances with the London Philharmonic and Masur (Beethoven) in the UK, Ireland and the US, and with the Ensemble Intercontemporain and Pierre Boulez (Rihm: Gesungene Zeit) in Switzerland. At the Lucerne Festival she celebrates the 30th anniversary of her concert debut with recitals of Mozart violin sonatas together with Orkis. At further Mozart Festival concerts, she directs the Tivoli Symphony, London Philharmonic and Guangzhou Symphony Orchestras. Releases include: Mozart piano trios with Previn and Müller-Schott (Record Academy Prize, Tokyo, 2006), and a 4-CD set of violin sonatas with Orkis. On DVD: Mozart’s violin concertos and the violin sonatas, each in a 2-disc set
2007Concerts with Previn conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Concert¬gebouw Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra; with Masur and the Orchestre national de France in Paris and Madrid (Previn’s Concerto); and with Maazel and the New York Philharmonic (Berg) in New York. She tours Europe with the Trondheim Soloists led by her in a Bach Festival programme. She premieres Previn’s Concerto for Violin and Double Bass with Roman Patkoló and the Boston Symphony under Previn, and Sofia Gubaidulina’s Violin Concerto In tempus praesens with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle at the Lucerne Festival. Releases this year: Simply Anne-Sophie – an album with a unique collection of her Deutsche Grammophon recordings and a DVD with Mozart piano trios; the Mozart violin concertos, sonatas and trios are now also available as a 5-DVD set
2008The year begins with a benefit concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Ozawa followed by a European tour. As soloist and conductor she tours with the Salzburg Camerata in the US and with the Trondheim Soloists in the Far East; with Orkis on a tour of the US and Europe (Brahms’s violin sonatas). Release of her album with Bach Concertos BWV 1041 & 1042 with the Trondheim Soloists coupled with the world-premiere recording of Gubaidulina’s Violin Concerto In tempus praesens, which was dedicated to Anne-Sophie Mutter, with the London Symphony under Valery Gergiev (Echo Award 2009 “Instrumentalist of the Year”). Receives the Ernst von Siemens Music Award and Leipzig’s Mendelssohn Prize
2009First performances of Gubaidulina’s In tempus praesens in Germany, Spain and the US. Anne-Sophie Mutter performs Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic under Masur, in Dresden and Prague with Masur and the Dresdner Philharmonie, on a European tour with the Oslo Philharmonic under Saraste, with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under Frühbeck de Burgos and with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Tilson Thomas; in Carnegie Hall, world premiere of Previn’s Piano Trio, with Harrell and Previn, and of Previn’s Concerto for Violin and Viola with Bashmet and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s under Previn; piano trios with Previn and Harrell in Germany and Istanbul. Release of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Masur, coupled with chamber works partnered by Previn and Harrell
2010Concert plans for this year include Gubaidulina’s In tempus praesens with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under Gergiev in Baden-Baden; the Mendelssohn and Beethoven concertos with the Frankfurt (hr) Radio Symphony under Paavo Järvi at the Rheingau Music Festival; the Brahms Concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony under Manfred Honeck in Pittsburgh, New York (Carnegie Hall), Budapest, Prague, Vienna, Luxembourg, Paris and Basle and with the London Philharmonic under Ludovic Morlot in London and on tour in Germany; benefit concerts for the “Association des amis de la maison de Solenn” in Paris and for “Save the Children” in Madrid; piano trios with Müller-Schott and Orkis in Abu Dhabi; a tour with Orkis playing Brahms violin sonatas in Germany, Switzerland, Japan and the US; Anne-Sophie Mutter will also performing just the Third Sonata in France, Germany and Spain. For release this year: the Brahms violin sonatas with Orkis
2/2010
This biography was provided by the artist or their representative.
