Customer Reviews

Violin Sonatas

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4 star:		(1)
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Anne-Sophie Mutter recently said in an interview that she would retire once she could add nothing new to the repertoire. Judged from this recording, she is far from retiring any time soon.

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung hit it right on the nail: "fiery passion as well as flawless control". The emotional charge that Mutter managed in these sonatas are at least on a par with the recently-resurfaced recording of Ferras-Barbizet Ferras, Christian: Brahms, Schumann, Franck, yet she manages to smooth out the "rough edges" and put a more feminine feel on the violin tone. Bravo for making the violin sing like a soprano. The way she played with the high notes in the G-major sonata, left them in a reverie, and then just parked them up there without letting them fall has only been achieved by very few violinists.

Whenever Mutter issues a recording, you get the combo of diva and artist. the covers always tend to the diva side, while the contents are musically unpredictable. will her style be glossy or serious, original or merely self-indulgent? She and her pianist, Lambert Orkis, certainly state a viewpoint immediately in this set of the Brahms sonatas. The piano glides in on silk paws for the opening of Sonata No. 2 (the three works are played out of order), erasing any sense of struggle in Brahms's piano part, and hard on his heels the violin enters in the same breezy mood. Tempos are brisk, the pacing easy and light, without a hint of hesitation or self-reflection.

This is the most lyrical and untroubled of the sonatas, yet it has a late opus number (Op. 100), which always indicates shadowy moods and inescapable melancholy. Mutter realizes this, and she imparts suggestions of sadness as the movement unfolds. Yet the overall impression is rather glib. The "tranquillo" slow movement is suitably calm and dreamy at the outset, and the variations that follow are deftly handled; Mutter is nothing if not a master of shifting tone. She can turn on a dime when she wants to express nuances of sound. But the mood remains rather detached despite an abundance of beautiful sounds. The finale is marked Allegretto, but Brahms adds a reservation-- "like an Andante." This points out a difficulty. this sonata essentially has three movements that move at the same tempo. What I most appreciated about Mutter's reading is that through shifting colors and subtle phrasing she overcame the threat of sameness. If only the pianist didn't mistake tinkling for refinement.

Having established that her way with this music would be light and graceful (see Itzhak Perlman's sets with Ashkenazy or Barenboim for the contrary view), Mutter remains consistent in sonatas no. 1 and no. 3. Her handling of the lyric line is ultra-sophisticated, and there's no doubt that your ear is constantly teased. You may feel that only half the story is being told -- Brahms without struggle isn't really Brahms -- but when each bar is being massaged with such tender fingers, it's hard to complain too much.

No matter how much her recording company on its discs covers has tried to emphasize that Anne-Sophie Mutter is glamorous, this disc of Brahms's three Violin Sonatas certainly proves that she is a very serious musician well capable of playing with wonderful tone, intonation and a very keen sense of rhythm. Accompanied by Lambert Orkis, Anne-Sophie performs these familiar works wonderfully playing with loads of passion. I loved this recording.

DGG has done a really great job recording these sonatas in 2009--fantastic balance between the piano and the violin plus a very warm sound throughout the entire recording

Anne-Sophie Mutter does the best violin sonatas on this CD. She plays the violin like if more than one violin is being played .