Mutter Mozart Sonatas

In 2006, I traveled form San Francisco to New York City for one main purpose: to attend the three concerts at Carnegie Hall at which Anne-Sophie Mutter, with Lambert Orkis, Piano, performed all the Mozart sonatas for piano and Violin. What an experience that was!

There are two DVD’s in this collection. These sonatas are recorded at a performance in the Gasteig concert hall in Munich, Germany.

16 sonatas are performed. Each is a treasure in its own right; however, the listener is likely to develop his/her own favorites. For me, what’s amazing is the variety of mood, color, dynamics, pathos, and humor that these two artists achieve. Ms. Mutter has developed a wonderful way of playing the super quiet (Italian: Pianissimo) passages. For these times, she suspends the use of her vibrato, and the sound becomes suspended in the air in a seemingly spiritual way. It’s really quite dramatic.

As a chamber music performance, these two artists are a fine example to any performing group: Always sensitive to which instrument has the lead, and always achieving outstanding balance.

Bottom line: Outstanding partnership in achieving a superlative performance of these Mozart masterpieces.