Anne-Sophie Mutter (born 29 June 1963) is a Germanviolinist. Born and raised inRheinfelden,Baden-Württemberg, Mutter began playing the violin at age five and pursued further studies inGermany andSwitzerland. She was supported early in her career byHerbert von Karajan, made her orchestral debut with theBerlin Philharmonic in 1977, and rose to international prominence in the early 1980s. She has since performed as a soloist with leadingorchestras worldwide and has recorded more than 50 albums, mostly with theDeutsche Grammophon label, earning fourGrammy Awards, twoECHO Klassik awards, twoOpus Klassik awards, and aGrand Prix du Disque. Despite her success and fame in the 1980s, Mutter's interpretive style often divides critics.
Mutter founded the Association of Friends of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation e.V. in 1997 and established the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation in 2008, both dedicated to supporting young string musicians. She frequently gives benefit concerts and was the president of theGerman Cancer Aid from 2021 to 2025.
Mutter was born in the German town ofRheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg. Her parents were Karl Wilhelm Mutter and Gerlinde Mutter and she was raised with two older brothers. While Mutter's father was a journalist who edited a newspaper inBaden-Württemberg, her mother was the first woman in her family to graduate from college. Although no one in the home played a musical instrument, all were passionate about classical music.[1]
Mutter began piano lessons at age five but after a few months switched to the violin after listening to an album of theMendelssohn andBeethoven violin concertos that her parents had given to each other as an engagement present. At age six, after only one year of violin lessons, Mutter won the National Music Prize, and in 1972 she gave her first concert, with the then 343-year-oldMusikkollegium Winterthur.[2]
Inspired by another recording, of violinistYehudi Menuhin withWilhelm Furtwängler, she then began studying with Erna Honigberger, a pupil ofCarl Flesch; and when Honigberger died, in 1974, she continued withAida Stucki, also a former student of Flesch, at the Winterthur Conservatory.[3]
Mutter's playing began to receive wider attention and she stopped attending school to devote herself full time to music. At only 13 years old, she made her public recital debut on August 23, 1976 at theLucerne Festival, performing works byTartini,Bach,de Falla,Paganini, and deSarasate.[4] ConductorHerbert von Karajan heard Mutter play at the Lucerne Festival and arranged for her to perform at TheSalzburg Whitsun Festival, where she debuted with theBerlin Philharmonic on May 29, 1977 in a performance of Mozart'sViolin Concerto No. 3.[5] In the summer of 1977, she made her debut at theSalzburg Festival, performing Mozart'sViolin Concerto No. 2 with theMozarteum Orchestra Salzburg.[6][7] Critics praised the level of maturity in Mutter's performances, with one reviewer ofDie Welt writing, "She played it ravishingly, and above all, she did not play it at all like a child prodigy. Her technique is fully mature."[8]
At the age of 15, Mutter made her debut recording in 1978, performing Mozart'sThird andFifth violin concerti with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. The recording received France's prestigiousGrand Prix International du Disque the following year.[9] In the 1980s, Mutter went on to record theBrahms,Beethoven,Mendelssohn, andBruch violin concertos with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, all released on theDeutsche Gramophone label. The Mendelssohn and Bruch recording won Tokyo's Record Academy Prize in 1981, with one critic fromGramophone writing "In the Mendelssohn Mutter is even more successful. She plays with the most natural spontaneity, giving the listener a feeling of coming to the work anew."[10][11]
Three years after her debut with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1980, in which she played Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto under Claudio Abbado, Mutter was named honorary President ofOxford University's Mozart Society.[17][18] In 1985, at the age of 22, she was made an honorary fellow of theRoyal Academy of Music (London), appointed head of its faculty of international violin studies, and in 1986 became an honorary member.[19]
During the 1980s, Mutter appeared at theSalzburg Festival five times with Herbert von Karajan. She also performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto withYo-Yo Ma andMark Zeltser under Karajan in 1978 and later recorded the concerto with the same musicians for Deutsche Grammophone. Additionally, Mutter recorded theTchaikovsky Violin Concerto with theVienna Philharmonic and Karajan at the 1988 Salzburg Festival. Since her debut at the Festival, she has been a frequent guest, appearing more than thirty times both with orchestras and as a recitalist.[20]
Beginning in the late 1980s, Mutter expanded her repertoire and devoted herself more to contemporary works, a focus that would become a significant component of her career. In 1986, Mutter premieredWitold Lutosławski's Chain 2, Dialogue for Violin and Orchestra, with the Zurich Collegium Musicum.[21]Norbert Moret composed his Violin Concert En rêve for Mutter in 1988.[22]
By the 1990s, Mutter had established herself as an international star, transitioning fromWunderkind to mature artist[33][34][35] The press described her as a "master of the violin" and "musician of near peerless virtuosity and unimpeachable integrity," with critics noting her glamorous image.[36][37][38] One author ofDer Spiegel wrote in regards to Mutter's rise to fame: "In the meantime, the entire classical music world knows these tones and this musical master: Anne-Sophie Mutter, now 25, is probably the only world star made in Germany in today's instrumentalist trade and the first violinist from [Germany] who can keep up with the world's violin standard. AfterDietrich Fischer-Dieskau's flight of fancy, no other serious musician from Germany – gender notwithstanding – has succeeded in rising more quickly from the first floor to the penthouse of the international guild of interpreters. In her line of work she is at the top: Frau Fiddler on the roof."[39]
In 1998 she played and recorded for CD and DVD the complete set ofBeethoven's Violin Sonatas (released 1999), accompanied byLambert Orkis; these were broadcast on television in many countries. The recording of the sonatas received aGrammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance. Mutter devoted an entire year to performing all ten of Beethoven'sviolin sonatas in the "Beethoven: Face to Face" tour in cities throughout North America and Europe, including additional modern pieces.[43][44] Music criticAnthony Tommasini of theNew York Times wrote on a concert of the Beethoven tour, "Ms. Mutter's playing had its trademark qualities: rich yet focused tone, striking varieties of sound, articulate yet supple rhythmic play. But her increasing work in recent years with living composers has brought a new kind of intellectual energy to her playing, for she was particularly attentive to the bold turns in this youthful music."[45]
With the turn of the century, Mutter continued supporting new music and began collaborating with composer and conductorAndré Previn, who dedicated several works to Mutter. Mutter premiered a Tango Song and Dance in 2002, which Previn composed for her.[46] Mutter also gave the first permanence and recording of Previn'sViolin Concerto with theBoston Symphony Orchestra the same year,[47] of which the recording became a critical success.[48][49] Mutter toured with orchestras under the direction of Previn, performing his concerto and later premiering Previn's double concerto for violin and contrabass in 2007 with Roman Patkoló.[50] Two years later, she premiered his Second Piano Trio withLynn Harrell and Previn and Concerto for Violin and Viola withYuri Bashmet.[51][52]
In October 2006, on French television, Mutter appeared to indicate that she would be retiring when she turned 45, in 2008.[58] However the following month she said that her words were "misinterpreted" and that she would continue to play as long as she felt she could "bring anything new, anything important, anything different to music".[59]
To mark the bicentenary of Mendelssohn's birth, Mutter rerecorded Mendelssohn's violin concerto with Kurt Masur and theLeipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and hisPiano Trio No. 1 withLynn Harrell and André Previn in 2009. Mutter also gave live performances of the concerto in San Francisco, New York, London and Oslo.[60][61]
Mutter performed classical and contemporary works during the 2010s, touring Europe, North America, Asia, South America, and Australia. For her yearly tours and performances, she continued her collaborations withLambert Orkis and performed the major concertos of the classical repertoire.[62][63][64][65][66] She premiered Wolfgang Rihm's "Lichtes Spiel" with the New York Philharmonic and "Dyade" with double bass player Roman Patkoló in 2010 andSebastian Currier's "Time Machines" with the New York Philharmonic conducted byAlan Gilbert in 2011 to critical acclaim.[67][68] In 2010 and 2011, Mutter was the Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic.[69][70]
In 2011, Mutter established the Mutter Virtuosi, composed of select students and graduates of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation (established 2008) that perform with Mutter. The chamber ensemble has toured multiple times throughout different continents in the 2010s, performing modern works and classics such asVivaldi'sFour Seasons.[71] As part ofDeutsche Grammophon's series to introduce classical music to broader audiences, Mutter and the Mutter Virtuosi performed works byBach,Vivaldi,Gershwin andJohn Williams in a night club at Berlin's venue Neue Heimat in 2015. The performance was recorded for The Club Album – Live from the Yellow Lounge.[72] Mutter was the soloist for the Berlin Philharmonic's 2015 New Year Eve's concert underSir Simon Rattle.[73]
Mutter gave the world premiere of Previn's "Violin Concerto no. 2 for Violin and String Orchestra with theTrondheim Soloists in 2012,[74] the premier of Sebastian Currier's "Ringtone Variations" for violin and double bass in 2013,[75] and the premiere ofJohn Williams' Markings for solo violin, strings and harp with the Boston Symphony Orchestra underAndris Nelsons in 2017.[76] In 2018, Mutter premiered Previn's The Fifth Season,[77] Krzysztof Penderecki's Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2, and hisDuo concertante per violino e contrabbasso.[78]
In September 2019, Mutter stopped during a performance of Beethoven'sViolin Concerto with theCincinnati Symphony Orchestra to ask a cellphone user to stop recording. The incident received significant press coverage and refueled debates about concert cellphone etiquette.[85][86][87][88][89]
Mutter's 2023 Virtuosi tour included works by Vivaldi and Bach and byJoseph Bologne in an effort to revive the composer's legacy.[93][94] In 2023, Mutter also performed chamber pieces by Beethoven, Brahms, Currier and Schuman with Lambert Orkis and Maximilians Hornung. Mutter continued to premiere Kurrier’s “Ghost Trio” and Previn’s “Nonet” in several European countries and continued performances of William’s Violin Concerto no. 2 alongside some of his film scores.
In January 2024, Mutter gave the UK premiere of William’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In the spring of that year, Mutter toured East Asia with Lambert Orkis, performing works by Mozart, Respighi, Schumann and Schubert. Mutter performed core violin concertos in concert series with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Manfred Honeck, the National Danish Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic.
In 2025, Mutter performed Beethoven and Tchaikovsky Trios with Yefim Bronfman and Pablo Ferrández in US and German cities. Mutter resumed the concerts series “Across the Stars” featuring various compositions by John Williams, but with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra underVasily Petrenko. On October 25, 2025, Mutter gave the premieres of „Three Dances” for violin and orchestra byMax Richter and "When the world was Waltzing" by John Williams in a 200th anniversary concert for Johann Strauss with the Vienna Philharmonic under Manfred Honeck at theVienna Musikverein.[95]
Mutter's works include traditional classic pieces that are part of the violin repertoire. Mutter has performed and made recordings of the major violin concertos byBach,Bartók,Berg,Brahms,Bruch,Beethoven,Dvořák,Mendelssohn,Mozart,Sibelius,Tchaikovsky, andVivaldi. Her repertoire includes performances and recordings of the double and triple concertos byBrahms andBeethoven, violin romances by Beethoven, Bruch, and Dvořák, and popular orchestral works byMassenet,Sarasate, andSaint Saëns, and standard solo works by Bach andPaganini. Part of her repertoire encompasses chamber works such as the complete violin sonatas by Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart, other sonatas byBartók,Franck, Mendelssohn,Prokofiev andTartini, trios by Beethoven and Mozart, and string quartets by Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn, and Schubert'sTrout Quintet andFantasy in C Major.[96]
Though her repertoire includes many classical works, Mutter is particularly known for her performances of contemporary music. Several pieces have been specially written for or dedicated to her, includingHenri Dutilleux'sSur le même accord, Krzysztof Penderecki's Second Violin Concerto, Witold Lutosławski'sChain 2 and the orchestral version ofPartita, and Wolfgang Rihm'sGesungene Zeit ("Time Chant"),Lichtes Spiel, andDyade and Sofia Gubaidulina's Violin Concerto No. 2 "In tempus praesens," among others. Mutter premiered André Previn'sViolin Concerto "Anne-Sophie", whose recording received aGrammy Award.[97] Mutter's recordings of Penderecki's Violin Concerto No. 2,Metamorphosen, and Rihm'sTime Chant also received Grammy Awards.[98]
World renowned film score composer and five timesAcademy Awards winner John Williams composed original music for her, including a 2017 pièce for violin, strings and harp called "Markings", and in 2019 arrangements for violin and orchestra ofmovie themes composed by himAcross the Stars, recorded by Mutter and Williams with theRecording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles.[99] Mutter commissioned Williams'second violin concerto, recorded in 2022 by Mutter and theBoston Symphony Orchestra with Williams conducting.[100] Mutter also appeared as soloist in John Williams' debut concert with theWiener Philharmoniker on 28 and 29 January 2020, recorded byDeutsche Grammophon and released in the live album "John Williams in Vienna", which became the best-selling album of orchestral music in 2020.[101]
Anne-Sophie Mutter's playing is known for its versatile technique, dynamic range, varied texture, and articulate, intense and multicolored sound.[102][103][104] Mutter's playing has been described as bold, inventive, and striking, with one critic writing, "She somehow makes you aware, through passages of misty tone and deliberate accretions of intensity, of how many interpretive options there are beyond the one she has chosen, how many roads through a given work have gone untraveled."[105][106][107]
Critics have noted Mutter's personal and thorough interpretation of the music and dedication to the musical works she plays, as she often studies the letters, original scores, and other historical documents by the composer to guide her interpretation.[108][109][110][111]
While critics universally acknowledge Mutter's technical ability, critical opinion remains divided regarding her interpretive style. Some praise her interpretive self-reflection, dexterity, intellectual energy, and musical sophistication, while others regard her playing as overly refined and idiosyncratic, arguing that it is overly focuses on minute details and that Mutter over-interprets works, imposing herself on the music.[11][112][113][114]
Some critics have pointed out that Mutter’s recent playing lacks the naturalness and serenity of her earlier performances and recordings under Karajan in the 1980s and attribute this shift to her overly sophisticated and detailed readings and attempts to reinvent the music.[115][116][117] Regarding a more recent live recording, one critic wrote, "Every last detail has been dissected and considered, every phrase is minutely shaded; the subtleties of her bowing could in themselves fill a review. Yet I find the results strangely unmoving. It's live, but everything is so highly refined that it doesn't sound it: In Mutter's hands, the music has become perfectly embalmed."[118]
Mutter is known for performing in strapless gowns. Mutter explained that she felt having fabric on her shoulder made it too slippery to hold her violin firmly while she was playing.[119][120]
In 2025, theBBC Music Magazine ranked Anne-Sophie Mutter among the greatest violinists of all time based on a survey of 100 prominent string players.[121] The Gramophone Magazine ranked her among the 30 greatest violinists on record for her recording of the Previn Violin concerto.[122]
Mutter has described her Stradivarius violin as her soul mate, saying "It sounded the way I (had) always been hoping. It's the oldest part of my body and my soul. The moment I am on stage, we are one, musically." Mutter ascribes the personal fit of her Stradivarius violin to the "depths of the colors and the incredible amount of dynamic range."[130] She prefers the Lord Dunn-Raven, stating that the Emilia lacks "a dimension: It has no edginess. I miss the unbridled power. I need this roughness for the eruptive moments of theBeethoven sonatas. You need it forBrahms,Sibelius and contemporary works."[131]
Throughout her career, Mutter has held many benefit concerts for various organizations such as Save the Children Japan, Save the Children Yemen, Artists against Aids, the Swiss Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Hanna and Paul Gräb Foundation's Haus der Diakonie in Wehr-Öflingen, the Bruno Bloch Foundation, Beethoven Fund for Deaf Children, SOS Children's Villages in Syria and others.[132] In 2018, Mutter gave a benefit concert commemorating a liberation concert in May 1945 forHolocaust survivors byEx-Concentration Camp Orchestra, Jewish musicians who survived the Holocaust, at theSt. Ottilien Archabbey.[133] In 2022, theNew York Philharmonic and Mutter performed Jewish music, including Previn's violin concerto atPeenemünde, a formerNazi army research center site.[134][135] Since March 2022, Mutter has been giving benefit concerts for Ukrainians in light of theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[136][137]
Mutter founded the Association of Friends of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation e.V. in 1997 and further established the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation in 2008, which supports young stringed instrument players and provides scholarships for talented individuals.[138] Mutter initiated the foundation based on her belief that "Music should grip people, move people; it should tell stories; it should have an impact." Since 2011, the ensemble group Mutter's Virtuosi performs with Mutter and includes students supported by the foundation that also commissions new works for its students.[139] Notable former scholarship holders and Mutter's Virtuosi members include violinistsTimothy Chooi,Fanny Clamagirand,Vilde Frang,Sergey Khachatryan,Arabella Steinbacher,Noa Wildschut, andNancy Zhou and cellistsPablo Ferrández,Maximilian Hornung,Linus Roth,Daniel Müller-Schott, andKian Soltani, among others.[140][141]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic, Mutter voiced her concerns about the impact of lockdowns on musicians, particularly classical musicians, and called for theGerman government to provide financial support.[142][143]
In 1989, Mutter married her first husband, Detlef Wunderlich, with whom she had two children, Arabella and Richard. Wunderlich died of cancer in 1995.[145] She dedicated her 1999 recording,Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, to his memory.[146] She married the pianist, composer, and conductorAndré Previn, 34 years her senior, in 2002.[147][148] The couple divorced in 2006,[149] but continued to collaborate musically and maintained their friendship.[150] She lives in Munich.[151]
^Cunningham, Harriet (2 December 2011)."Interview: Anne-Sophie Mutter".The Sydney Morning Herald.Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved1 June 2022.
^CD Booklet, Mozart - Violin Concertos, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Gramophone, The Originals rerelease, 1999.
^abCD Booklet in Mendelssohn/Bruch Violin Concertos-Anne-Sophie Mutter, Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan from Deutsche Grammophon The Originals, 2001}}
^Perkins, David (14 November 2006)."Mutter still takes her music seriously".The Boston Globe. Archived fromthe original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved3 May 2008.Yes, yes, I said it. It is my plan to stop when I reach my 45th birthday.
^Schweitzer, Vivian (19 November 2010)."Pairing Wolfgangs From Two Eras".The New York Times. The New York Times.Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved14 February 2023.
^Hillenbrand, Barry; Moor, Paul (27 April 1998). "Playing the World: When violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter takes Beethoven on the road, the halls are full and the music sublime". No. 17. Time International.
^Henry, Derrick (28 February 1997)."Contemporary Twist".The Atlanta Constitution. p. 128.Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved31 March 2022.
^Kjemtrup, Inge (January 2006)."Goddess with a Gift".Strings (135).Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved30 December 2015.Every tragedy, or every really wonderful moment in your life, changes you as a person, and hopefully makes you a better person, more sensible, more sensitive, more caring — more thankful for life.
^Druckenbrod, Andrew (4 February 2010)."Anne-Sophie Mutter Druckenbrod".Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 54.Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved31 March 2022.
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