Re-visiting Mutter
For portions of the past two days I have come back to listening to one of my great favorites, violinist Anne–Sophie Mutter. And what a wonderful experience this has been. I am exploring again her performances of all of Beethoven’s violin sonatas.
The DVD I am listening to is the following:
The Complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas
Beethoven:
- Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-10 (Complete)
Performed by Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), and Lambert Orkis (piano)
- Includes film: “A Life with Beethoven”
When I first purchased this recording, I would listen to it constantly, because I was thrilled with the great sensitivity of playing that Mutter and Orkis bring to this music. They demonstrate the ability to achieve a huge range of emotions: This allowed me to witness great calm and peacefulness, and also a high level of excitement.
Pianist Lambert Orkis is an amazingly capable accompaniment. He shows us the sort of rapport with Ms. Mutter that effortlessly creates an atmosphere of total unity.
Anne-Sophie Mutter needs no introduction, because she’s become a world-renown violinist. She is a phenomenal technician, with an astounding bow arm, and the ability to produce a huge range of colors on her instrument.
For me, what I find so masterful is the ability of Ms. Mutter to at certain times create a total pianissimo which allows the music of Beethoven to speak to us. For me this shows great delicacy and creates an atmosphere of great calm in which I can explore the deep aspects of the music.
Here is a section of this DVD:
Beethoven’s Sonata for violin and piano No.8 in G major. op.30 Nr.3;
Performed by violinist Anne Sophie Mutter, and pianist Lambert Orkis
And… next, you can hear the sonatas numbers 1-7:
http://youtu.be/hauFZXmnXhY
Feel free to add your own comments at the very end of this post.
Tags: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lambert Orkis, Beethoven, Sonatas