Two years before the release of this disc, German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter told Musical America she intended to stop performing "when I reach my 45th birthday," that is, in June 2008. Shortly afterwards, however, she told the Washington Post she'd been "misinterpreted," and that she intended to keep playing as long as she could "bring anything new, anything important, anything different to music."The question, of course, is: has she? Let us take this 2008 Deutsche Grammophon disc as a measure. Half the repertoire is ...
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Two years before the release of this disc, German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter told Musical America she intended to stop performing "when I reach my 45th birthday," that is, in June 2008. Shortly afterwards, however, she told the Washington Post she'd been "misinterpreted," and that she intended to keep playing as long as she could "bring anything new, anything important, anything different to music."The question, of course, is: has she? Let us take this 2008 Deutsche Grammophon disc as a measure. Half the repertoire is extremely familiar -- Bach's solo violin concertos in A minor and E major -- and half is totally unfamiliar -- Sofia Gubaidulina's concerto for violin and orchestra called In tempus prasens. Mutter had recorded Bach's concertos 25 years earlier with Salvatore Accardo and the English Chamber Orchestra. Those performances were lovely and lyrical, but plain vanilla readings; these performances, while no less lovely, are much more expressive and dramatic. As always, Mutter's tone is silken...
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