Anne-Sophie Mutter facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Anne-Sophie Mutter
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Mutter in 2019
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| Born | 29 June 1963 Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
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| Occupation | Violinist |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 2 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Classical |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1976–present |
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Anne-Sophie Mutter (born 29 June 1963) is a famous German violinist. She was born and grew up in Rheinfelden, Germany. Anne-Sophie started playing the violin when she was five years old. She continued her music studies in Germany and Switzerland.
A famous conductor named Herbert von Karajan helped her early in her career. She played with the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra for the first time in 1977. Since the 1970s, Anne-Sophie Mutter has become very well-known. She has recorded over 50 music albums, mostly with the Deutsche Grammophon company. She performs as a solo artist with top orchestras around the world. Her main violin is a special one called the Lord Dunn–Raven Stradivarius.
Anne-Sophie Mutter plays many kinds of classical music. This includes older music from the Baroque time and music from the 1900s. But she is also famous for playing and asking for new music from today's composers. She supports new music, and many composers have written pieces just for her. Some of these composers are John Williams, André Previn, and Krzysztof Penderecki.
Mutter has won many awards. These include four Grammy Awards (in 1994, 1999, 2000, and 2005). She also received the Legion of Honour from France in 2009. She is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music since 1986.
In 1997, Mutter started a group to help young string musicians. Later, in 2008, she created the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. She often plays concerts to raise money for good causes. Since 2021, she has been the president of the German Cancer Aid.
Contents
Becoming a Musician
Anne-Sophie Mutter was born in Rheinfelden, Germany. Her parents were Karl Wilhelm and Gerlinde Mutter. She grew up with two older brothers. Her father was a journalist, and her mother was the first woman in her family to finish college. Even though no one in her family played music, they loved classical music.
Mutter started playing the piano when she was five. Soon after, she began playing the violin. When she was six, she won a national music prize. In 1972, she played her first concert with an orchestra. She was inspired by a recording of a famous violinist, Yehudi Menuhin. She then studied with Erna Honigberger. After Honigberger passed away in 1974, Anne-Sophie continued her studies at the Winterthur Conservatory.
Her Amazing Career
Starting Out in the 1970s and 1980s
People started to notice Anne-Sophie Mutter's playing. She stopped going to school to focus on music full-time. The conductor Herbert von Karajan asked her to play with the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra. She was only 13 years old when she played her first public concert in 1976. This was at the Lucerne Festival, where she performed a piece by Mozart.
In 1977, she played at the Salzburg Festival. She also performed with the English Chamber Orchestra. Music critics praised her performances. They said she played with great skill, not like a child. Her technique was already very advanced. When she was 15, Mutter made her first recording. She played Mozart's violin concertos with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic.
In the early 1980s, Mutter began performing outside Europe. In 1980, she played in America for the first time. She performed with the New York Philharmonic orchestra. She also played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. The next year, she made her debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She also played with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1983. Her first performance in Japan was in Tokyo in 1981. She played in Moscow, Russia, for the first time in 1985.
In 1985, at age 22, she became an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London. She was also made head of its international violin studies.
In the late 1980s, Mutter started to play more new music. This became a very important part of her career. In 1986, she played a new piece called "Chain 2" by Witold Lutosławski. In 1988, Norbert Moret wrote a violin concerto for her.
In 1988, she toured Canada and the United States. She played as a soloist with orchestras and gave solo concerts with pianist Lambert Orkis. She performed in many big cities like New York and Los Angeles. She played new music by Krzysztof Penderecki and André Previn. She also played classic pieces by Beethoven and others.
Becoming a Star in the 1990s
By the 1990s, Anne-Sophie Mutter was a global music star. People called her a "master of the violin." Critics noted her amazing skill and dedication to music. One writer said she was "the only world star made in Germany" in instrumental music.
In the 1990s, Mutter played new pieces by Wolfgang Rihm, Sebastian Currier, and Krzysztof Penderecki. She also released some of her most popular albums. These included "Carmen Fantasie" (1993) and Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" (1994).
In 1998, she played and recorded all of Beethoven's Violin Sonatas. She toured North America and Europe, performing all ten of these sonatas. A music critic from New York Times said her playing showed "rich yet focused tone" and "striking varieties of sound."
New Music in the 2000s
In the 2000s, Mutter kept supporting new music. She started working with composer and conductor André Previn. Previn wrote several pieces especially for her. In 2002, Mutter played Previn's "Tango Song and Dance" for the first time. She also gave the first performance and recording of Previn's Violin Concerto. This recording was very successful. She toured with orchestras led by Previn, playing his concerto.
Other new works written for Mutter included pieces by Henri Dutilleux and Sofia Gubaidulina.
From 2005 to 2006, Mutter toured the world for Mozart's 250th birthday. She played all of Mozart's violin concertos and other works. She performed in Europe, North America, and Asia. Five DVD and CD recordings of these performances were released.
In 2006, Mutter said her words were "misinterpreted" about retiring. She said she would keep playing as long as she could bring "anything new, anything important, anything different to music."
Touring the World (2010s-Present)
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In the 2010s, Mutter continued to perform classical and new works. She toured Europe, North America, Asia, South America, and Australia. She kept working with Lambert Orkis and played many major concertos. She premiered new pieces by Wolfgang Rihm and Sebastian Currier.
In 2011, Mutter started the Mutter Virtuosi. This group is made up of talented young musicians from her foundation. They perform with Mutter and have toured many continents. They play both new and classic pieces, like Vivaldi's "Four Seasons". In 2015, Mutter and the Mutter Virtuosi played at a night club in Berlin. This was part of a series to introduce classical music to more people.
Mutter premiered more new works by Previn and Currier. In 2017, she played John Williams' "Markings" for the first time. In 2018, she premiered Previn's "The Fifth Season" and other pieces.
In 2018, Mutter performed with pianist Lang Lang in Berlin. This was for the 120th anniversary of Deutsche Grammophon. She also gave concerts in Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo, Japan.
In 2019, Mutter joined John Williams to play his music for solo violin and orchestra. This tour and album were called "Across The Stars." It included music from Williams' famous movie scores, like Star Wars and Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter. The same year, Mutter toured Europe with the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra. She played Beethoven's Triple Concerto with Daniel Barenboim and Yo-Yo Ma.
In September 2019, Mutter stopped a concert to ask someone to stop recording on their phone. This event was widely reported and started discussions about phone use at concerts.
Recently, Mutter has premiered several pieces written for her. These include works by Jörg Widmann, John Williams, Unsuk Chin, and Thomas Adès. Her 2023 tour also included music by Joseph Bologne. She wants to help people remember his music.
What Music She Plays
Mutter plays many traditional classical pieces for the violin. She has performed and recorded major violin concertos by Bach, Bartok, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Dvořák, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and Vivaldi. She also plays double and triple concertos, violin romances, and popular orchestral works. Her repertoire includes solo works by Bach and Paganini. She also plays chamber music, like violin sonatas by Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart.
Even though she plays many classical works, Mutter is especially known for performing new music. Many pieces have been written just for her. These include Henri Dutilleux's "Sur le même accord" and Krzysztof Penderecki's Second Violin Concerto. André Previn's Violin Concerto "Anne-Sophie" won a Grammy Award. Her recordings of Penderecki's and Rihm's concertos also won Grammys.
The famous film composer John Williams has written original music for her. This includes "Markings" (2017) and a collection of movie themes arranged for violin and orchestra. She recorded these for the album "Across the Stars" (2019). Williams also composed his second violin concerto for her in 2021. Mutter also played as a soloist in John Williams' first concert with the Vienna Philharmonic in 2020. This concert became a best-selling album.
Her Style and Look
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Anne-Sophie Mutter is known for her amazing technique and rich, clear sound. She plays with a wide range of emotions and colors. Critics say she deeply understands the music she plays. She often studies letters and original music scores by composers to help her interpretation.
Mutter is also known for wearing strapless gowns when she performs. She explained that she feels fabric on her shoulder makes it hard to hold her violin firmly.
Her Special Violins
She owns two very old and valuable Stradivarius violins. These are the Emiliani from 1703 and the Lord Dunn-Raven Stradivarius from 1710. She mainly plays the Lord Dunn-Raven. She bought the Emiliani in 1979 and the Lord Dunn-Raven in 1984. She also has a Finnigan-Klaembt violin from 1999 and a Regazzi violin from 2005.
Mutter calls her Stradivarius violin her "soul mate." She said, "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." She loves the "depths of the colors and the incredible amount of dynamic range" of her Stradivarius. She prefers the Lord Dunn-Raven because it has a powerful, "unbridled" sound. She needs this for strong pieces like Beethoven sonatas and works by Brahms and Sibelius.
Helping Others
Throughout her career, Mutter has played many concerts to raise money for different charities. These include Save the Children, Artists against Aids, and SOS Children's Villages. In 2018, she played a concert to remember a special concert for Holocaust survivors in 1945. In 2022, she performed Jewish music at a former Nazi army research center. Since March 2022, Mutter has been giving concerts to help Ukrainians.
Mutter started the Association of Friends of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation in 1997. In 2008, she created the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. This foundation helps young musicians who play string instruments. It also gives scholarships to talented students. Mutter believes that "Music should grip people, move people; it should tell stories; it should have an impact."
Since 2011, the Mutter Virtuosi group performs with Mutter. This group includes students supported by her foundation. The foundation also asks composers to write new music for its students. Some famous musicians who were helped by her foundation include Timothy Chooi, Vilde Frang, and Daniel Müller-Schott.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mutter spoke about how lockdowns affected musicians. She asked the German government to help musicians financially.
In 2021, Anne-Sophie Mutter was chosen as the president of the German Cancer Aid.
Her Family Life
In 1989, Mutter married Detlef Wunderlich. They had two children, Arabella and Richard. Detlef passed away in 1995. She dedicated her 1999 album, "Vivaldi: The Four Seasons," to his memory. In 2002, she married the pianist, composer, and conductor André Previn. They divorced in 2006 but continued to work together on music and remained friends. She lives in Munich, Germany.
Awards and Honors
Anne-Sophie Mutter has received many awards and honors for her musical talent and her charity work.
- Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:
- For Beethoven: The Violin Sonatas (2000)
- Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra):
- For Previn: Violin Concerto "Anne-Sophie"/Bernstein: Serenade (2005)
- For Penderecki: Violin Concerto No. 2, Metamorphosen (1999)
- For Berg: Violin Concerto/Rihm: Time Chant (1994)
- She has a street named after her in Germany: Anne-Sophie-Mutter-Weg (1988).
- She received the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg (1999).
- She received the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art (1999).
- She won the Sonning Award from Denmark (2001).
- She received the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art (2002).
- She won the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize (2003).
- She was made a Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2005).
- She received the Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (2007).
- She won the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (2008).
- She received the Mendelssohn Prize (2008).
- She was awarded the Merit Cross 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany (2009).
- She was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour from France (2009).
- She won an Echo Klassik award (2009, 2014).
- She received an honorary doctorate from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (2010).
- She won the Brahms Prize (2011).
- She was named an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music.
- She was named a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2013).
- She received the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts from Spain (2016).
- She received the Romanian Cultural Order of Merit (2017).
- She received the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis from Poland (2018).
- She won the Polar Music Prize (2019).
- She won the Praemium Imperiale (2019).
- She won the Opus Klassik, Category Instrumentalist (Violin) for Across the Stars (2020).
- She received an Honorary Degree from the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków (2022).
- She won the Opus Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year Award (2023).
Music Albums
Here are some of the albums Anne-Sophie Mutter has released:
- Deutsche Grammophon:
- Mozart Violin Concertos Nos. 3 & 5 (1978)
- Beethoven Triple Concerto (1980)
- Beethoven Violin Concerto (1980)
- Mendelssohn Violin Concerto / Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 (1981)
- Brahms Violin Concerto (1982)
- Brahms Double Concerto (1983)
- Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (1988)
- Lutosławski Partita & Chain 2 / Stravinsky Violin Concerto (1988)
- Beethoven: The String Trios (1989)
- Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2 / Moret En Rêve (1991)
- Berg Violin Concerto / Rihm Time Chant (1992)
- Carmen-Fantasy (1993)
- Romance (1995)
- Sibelius Violin Concerto (1995)
- The Berlin Recital (1996)
- Brahms Violin Concerto / Schumann Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra (1997)
- Penderecki Violin Concerto No. 2 / Bartok Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 (1997)
- Beethoven The Violin Sonatas (1998)
- Vivaldi The Four Seasons (1999)
- Recital 2000 (2000)
- Lutosławski Partita for Violin and Orchestra / Chain 2 (2002)
- Beethoven Violin Concerto (2002)
- Tango Song and Dance (2003)
- Previn Violin Concerto / Bernstein Serenade (2003)
- Tchaikovsky & Korngold Violin Concertos (2004)
- Dutilleux Sur le même accord / Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2 / Stravinsky Concerto en ré (2005)
- Mozart The Violin Concertos (2005)
- Mozart Piano Trios K502, K542, K548 (2006)
- Mozart The Violin Sonatas (August 2006)
- Simply Anne-Sophie (2006)
- Gubaidulina in tempus praesens (2008)
- Mendelssohn Violin Concerto (2009)
- Brahms Violin Sonatas (2010)
- Rihm: Lichtes Spiel; Currier: Time Machines (2011)
- The Complete Musician: Highlights (2011)
- Asm 35: The Complete Musician (2011)
- Dvořák: Violin Concerto (2013)
- The Silver Album (2014)
- Anne-Sophie Mutter Live: The Club Album from Yellow Lounge (2015)
- Mutterissimo: The Art of Anne-Sophie Mutter (2016)
- Franz Schubert: Trout Quintet (2017)
- Hommage à Penderecki (2018)
- The Early Years (2018)
- The Tokyo Gala Concert (2019)
- "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter (2019)
- Across the Stars (2019) (Works of John Williams)
- "Remembrances" & "Markings" (2019)
- Beethoven Triple Concerto & Symphony 7 (2020)
- John Williams in Vienna (2020)
- Williams, Violin Concerto No. 2 & Selected Film Themes (2022)
- The Solo Concertos: Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Tschaikowski (2023)
- Sony Classical Records:
- Brahms Double Concerto & Clara Schumann Piano Trio (2022)
- EMI Classics:
- Mozart Violin Concertos Nos. 2 & 4 (1982)
- Bach Violin Concertos / Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra (1983)
- Brahms Violin Sonatas (1983)
- Vivaldi The Four Seasons (1984)
- Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole / Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen (1985)
- Mozart Violin Concerto No. 1, Sinfonia Concertante (1991)
- Meditation: Vivaldi, Mozart, Massenet, Sarasate (1995)
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See also
In Spanish: Anne-Sophie Mutter para niños
