Anne-Sophie Mutter

“The exemplary Anne-Sophie Mutter has inaugurated an era of superb, masterly and expressive violin playing!”
Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich), April 2008

Anne-Sophie Mutter was born in Rheinfelden in Baden. She embarked on her international ca-reer as a soloist in 1976 at the Lucerne Festival and a year later made her 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 with Deutsche Grammophon at the age of 14 with Mozart Violin Concertos nos. 3 and 5 with Karajan and the Berliner Philhar-moniker; in the years that followed she recorded concertos by Beethoven (1985), Brahms (1982, 1983), Bruch (1981) and Mendelssohn (1980, 2008).
The violinist has also committed herself to alleviating the medical and social problems of our times and gives regular benefit concerts to this end. She has been the recipient of numerous im-portant honours and distinctions, including the Order of the Republic of Germany (First Class), the Bavarian Order of Merit, the Baden-Württemberg Medal of Merit and the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art. In 2002 she was awarded the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Sci-ence and Art and the Munich Cultural Prize of Honour. In 2003 the Bavarian State Ministry of Science, Research and Art bestowed on her the “Pro Meritis Scientiae et Litterarum” distinction, in 2005 she was made an “Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the French Minister of Culture and in 2006 she received the Victoire de la Musique in Strasbourg. In 2008 Mutter 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 she also received Leipzig’s Mendelssohn Prize for “her unique musicality and interpretational skill, and her untiring services to classical music”. Her recordings have been crowned with innumerable prizes.

1986
Appointed to the International Chair of Violin Studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. First performance of Lutosławski’s Chain 2, with the Zurich Collegium Musi-cum under its dedicatee Paul Sacher.

1987
Founds the Rudolf Eberle Trust, which supports young string players throughout Europe. This foundation’s activities are complemented ten years later by the establishment of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Circle of Friends Foundation.

1988
Introduces Norbert Moret’s En rêve, which is recorded and released in 1991. Releases this year: violin concertos by Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, and Lutosławski’s Chain 2, and Partita for violin, piano and orchestra. Extended recital tour of Canada and the US.

1990
The Anne-Sophie Mutter Festival in London and Stuttgart ranges from the Baroque to the contemporary, demonstrating her artistic versatility
1991
Recording and release of Bartók’s Violin Concerto no. 2.

1992
Appears at the Tanglewood and Ravinia festivals in the US. Plays the premiere of Wolf-gang 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).

1993
Release of Carmen Fantasy, with Levine and the Wiener Philharmoniker.

1994
World premiere of Sebastian Currier’s Aftersong with Lambert Orkis in Kiel.

1995
World premiere of Penderecki’s Metamorphosen, with the MDR Orchestra of Leipzig under Mariss Jansons. 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).

1996
Release of the Berlin Recital with pianist Lambert Orkis.

1998
Records 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 Mutter, with the composer con-ducting the London Symphony Orchestra (Grammy 1999).

1999
Release of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, with Mutter as soloist and conductor of the Trond-heim Soloists (Amadeus Music, Golden Harmony Awards 2000).

2000
Back 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 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 Phil-harmoniker in Vienna and Germany.

2002
Recording sessions include works by Gershwin, Brahms, Fauré, 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 Mendelssohn. Premieres Previn’s Violin Concerto “Anne-Sophie”, written for her, and records it with the com-poser conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Grammy 2005). At the Royal Festival Hall she plays the acclaimed world premiere of Dutilleux’s Sur le même accord, dedicated to Mutter, and records it with Kurt Masur conducting the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France (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.

2003
Tour of Germany with the Munich Philharmonic under Previn, and a European tour with Previn and Harrell. Concerts in Europe with the Oslo Philharmonic and Previn perform-ing 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, and performs Beethoven’s Concerto in Berlin with Previn and the Berliner Philharmoniker. Release: Bernstein’s Serenade with the London Symphony Orchestra and Previn’s Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, both under the direction of Previn.

2004
Appearances with the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors, presenting contempo-rary works composed for or dedicated to her: Dutilleux (Sur le même accord, including its US premiere); Lutosławski (Partita, Interludium, Chain 2); Rihm (Gesungene Zeit); Previn (Violin Concerto “Anne-Sophie”) – as well as traditional concertos and chamber music. Release: concertos by Korngold and Tchaikovsky with Previn conducting the London Symphony Orchestra and Wiener Philharmoniker respectively (Echo Award 2005 “Instrumentalist of the Year”).

2005
The season 2005/06 features a comprehensive homage to Mozart: she performs the Con-certos and Sinfonia concertante (with Yuri Bashmet) as soloist and conductor of the Salzburg Camerata and the London Philharmonic Orchestra; with Orkis she performs the Violin Sonatas on a world tour; and with Previn and Müller-Schott she plays the Piano Trios in Europe. Further performances of concertos by Beethoven, Previn and Korngold with Previn and the Philharmonic Orchestras of London and Oslo, and Beethoven with Masur and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

2006
Appearances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Masur (Beethoven) in Great Britain, Ireland and the US; with the Ensemble Intercontemporain and Pierre Boulez (Rihm Gesungene Zeit) in Switzerland; and with the SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under Previn (Beethoven) in Stuttgart. At the Lucerne Festival she celebrates the 30th anniversary of her concert debut with recitals of Mozart Violin Sonatas together with Orkis, which she also performs throughout Europe, the US and the Far East. At fur-ther 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 So-natas with Orkis. On DVD: Mozart’s Violin Concertos and the Violin Sonatas, each in a 2-disc set.

2007
Concerts with Previn conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra in Europe; with Masur and the Orchestre national de France in Paris and Madrid (Previn’s Concerto “Anne-Sophie”); 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. Further performances of Mozart’s Violin Sonatas with Orkis in Germany and Switzerland. She premieres Previn’s Concerto for Violin and Double Bass with Roman Patkoló and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Previn, and Sofia Gubaidulina’s Violin Concerto In tempus praesens with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle at the Lucerne Festival. Re-leases this year: Simply Anne-Sophie – an album with a unique collection of her Deutsche Grammophon recordings, a 5-DVD set of Mozart’s Violin Concertos, Sonatas and Trios, and a single DVD with the Piano Trios.

2008
The year begins with a benefit concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Ozawa, with whom she goes on a tour “in memory of Herbert von Karajan’s 100th birthday” throughout Europe. In the double function of soloist and conductor she tours with the Camerata Salzburg in the US and with the Trondheim Soloists in the Far East (Bach’s Violin Concerto no. 2, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons) and with Orkis on a tour of the US and in Germany, Denmark, Zurich and Vienna (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 Orchestra under Va-lery Gergiev. Receives Leipzig’s Mendelssohn Prize and the Ernst von Siemens Music Award.

2009
First performances of Gubaidulina’s In tempus praesens in Germany and Spain. Anne-Sophie Mutter tours Switzerland and Germany with the SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under Previn; she performs Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic under Masur in New York, on a European tour with the Oslo Phil-harmonic under Saraste, with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under Frühbeck de Burgos in Canada, and with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Tilson Tho-mas in San Francisco; 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. Release of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig under Masur coupled with chamber works by the same composer accompanied by Previn and Harrell.

11/2008