She’ll be performing at the 2024 BBC Proms with conductor Daniel Barenboim and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. But who is violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.
Who is Anne-Sophie Mutter?
Anne-Sophie Mutter is a German violinist. A former child prodigy, she was supported early in her career by legendary conductor Herbert von Karajan and gained prominence in the 1970s and 80s. She has recorded over 50 albums, mostly for Deutsche Grammophon, and performed as a soloist with the world’s leading orchestras. As a violinist, she is known for her authority on stage and the intensity of her sound.
When and where was Anne-Sophie Mutter born?
Mutter was born in the German town of Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg on 29 June 1963. Neither her parents nor her two older brothers played a musical instrument, but her whole family loved classical music.
When did she first learn to play the violin?
Anne-Sophie Mutter started playing the violin at the age of five, and was initially influenced by two teachers. The first was Erna Honigberger, a former Carl Flesch student, who took the six-year-old Mutter to her first concert – featuring renowned violinist David Oistrakh.
Honigberger died when Mutter was just nine, and she subsequently studied with Aida Stucki, also a former student of Flesch, who she credits with encouraging her students to become distinctive performers: ‘She was a total genius. Looking back, I realise how personalised her choice of repertoire was at each stage of the development of her students.’
Mutter was also supported early in her career by conductor Herbert von Karajan and made her orchestral debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1977, aged just 13. ‘He was able to bring the best out in all of us,’ she said. ‘It was a mixture of the huge respect we all had for him and maybe a tad of fear that you would not be good enough – or maybe a lot of fear! He had the way of listening to all of us, and particularly the soloist, and to carry you through the concert. He was very strict, very demanding in rehearsals.’
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What is Anne-Sophie Mutter most famous for?
Mutter made her public debut with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan in 1976 at the age of 13, playing Mozart’s Fourth Violin Concerto, followed in 1977 by a performance with the English Chamber Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim at the Salzburg Festival. From the outset, critics commented on the strength and maturity of her playing
Now aged 60, she has performed and recorded with the world’s best orchestras, conductors and musicians for almost 50 years.
Mutter performs traditional classical violin works by the likes of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms, but is also known for working with contemporary composers. She has had works composed especially for her by Thomas Adès, Unsuk Chin, Henri Dutilleux, Sofia Gubaidulina, Witold Lutosławski, Krzysztof Penderecki, André Previn, Wolfgang Rihm, Jörg Widmann, and John Williams. Thus far, she given world premieres of 31 works.
She is known for supporting young string players and created her Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation in 1997 to offer them scholarships, instruments, lessons and advice – recipients have included Daniel Müller-Schott, Sergey Khachatryan and Arabella Steinbacher.
She has received numerous awards throughout her long career, including four Grammys.
What are Anne-Sophie Mutter’s best recordings?
In 1978, at the age of 15, Mutter made her first recording of the Mozart Third and Fifth violin concertos with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. Since then, she has recorded over 50 albums, mostly for Deutsche Grammophon, encompassing everything from Mozart and Beethoven to contemporary composers, tango, and film music by John Williams.
Has Mutter played at the Proms before?
Anne-Sophie Mutter has performed eight times at the Proms in previous years. Her first appearance was in 1985 when she played the Brahms Violin Concerto. She then appeared in 1986 in Dvořák’s Violin Concerto; in 1988 performing Lutosławski under the composer himself; in 1992 performing Berg’s Violin Concerto under Michael Tilson Thomas; in 1996 in Brahms’s Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur; in 2004 premiering André Previn’s Concerto for Violin 'Anne-Sophie', conducted by Previn himself; in 2011 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; and in 2017, again with the Pittsburgh players, in Dvořák.
In 2024 she joins Daniel Barenboim and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to perform the Brahms Concerto – the same work she played at her very first Prom in 1985.
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Anne-Sophie Mutter’s marriage to André Previn
In 1989, Mutter married her first husband, lawyer Detlef Wunderlich, with whom she had two children. Wunderlich died of cancer in 1995. She then married German-American pianist, composer and conductor André Previn in 2002. The couple divorced in 2006, but continued to collaborate musically until Previn’s death in 2019.
Which violin does Anne-Sophie Mutter play?
Mutter owns two Stradivari violins: the ‘Emiliani’ of 1703, and the ‘Lord Dunn-Raven’ Stradivari of 1710. Mutter primarily performs on the ‘Lord Dunn-Raven’ and has said: ‘It has a tiger-like quality to its sound, which means that in the big concertos it can bring a roaring, forceful voice if needed.’
Photo: Harald Hoffmann / DG
