Anne-Sophie Mutter – Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Romances (2002/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Anne-Sophie Mutter – Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Romances (2002/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:04:01 minutes | 1,14 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Anne-Sophie Mutter’s Beethoven Concerto was recorded live at the final subscription concerts of Kurt Masur’s long tenure as the New York Philharmonic’s music director. The beautifully played orchestral part is a tribute to his leadership. Mutter plays with a silken tone and astonishing technical command of her instrument–absolute ease in the stratospheric tessitura of the solo part, and an amazing array of microdynamic adjustments that display the infinite variety of pianissimos at her command. She continually varies phrasing, so moments of ethereal beauty are often followed by finicky lapses into mannerisms. For all her instrumental brilliance, the results are curiously unmoving. The depths of the music’s emotions remain elusive, her virtuosity veering perilously close to showboating at times. Similar comments apply to the two Romances, whose verdant songfulness needs more lively tempos and straightforward playing. Mutter’s fans will want this disc. Others may turn to Heifetz, Perlman, Suk, or Grumiaux. –Dan Davis

“Personal maturity and humility are vitally important in the face of Beethoven’s tragic character.” That quotation opens the booklet included in DG’s deluxe packaging of Anne-Sophie Mutter’s new recording of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and violin Romances. The statement ironically illuminates the two fundamental flaws of Mutter’s performances: they are themselves neither mature nor humble. Is it humility that caused Mutter to overload her performance of the concerto with incessant tempo rubato, deliberately twisting Beethoven’s classically shaped concerto into a series of disjunct and disparate gestures? Is it humility that caused Mutter to burden her performances of the two Romances with a tone so lush and an interpretation so sensual that Beethoven’s coy little charmers become lascivious seductresses? And is it maturity that caused Mutter — arguably one of the greatest violinists of her generation — to impose her interpretive will on Beethoven, arguably one of the greatest composers who ever lived? For all the many beauties of Mutter’s performance — and her performance is often drop-dead gorgeous — her interpretation is so self-serving, so lacking in either maturity or humility, that one cannot recommend it except as an exercise in empty beauty.

Tracklist:

1-1. Kurt Masur – 1. Allegro ma non troppo – Cadenza: Fritz Kreisler (Live) (27:08)
1-2. Kurt Masur – 2. Larghetto (Live) (10:59)
1-3. Kurt Masur – 3. Rondo. Allegro (Cadenza: Fritz Kreisler) (Live) (10:16)
1-4. Kurt Masur – Beethoven: Violin Romance No. 1 in G Major, Op. 40 (Live) (07:13)
1-5. Kurt Masur – Beethoven: Violin Romance No. 2 in F Major, Op. 50 (Live) (08:23)

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