The godmother of violin

She comes in like a stream of light, which might be due to the fact that she wears a shining yellow gold dress while all the other musicians are dressed in black. The way she holds her violin could not be more graceful. And it is amazing that such a petite person can produce such timbres.

To hear and see Anne-Sophie Mutter at Carnegie Hall last tuesday was just a great experience. She brought the so-called Mutter Virtuosi, an ensemble of young students and professional string players who are alumni of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. They offered a fabulous program of two of the most important works ever written for strings, and one new piece which had its US premiere. The two classics have been Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins, Strings, and Continuo in D-minor and Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, one of the most iconic pieces of music ever written for any instrument, let alone strings. Also on the program was Andre Previn’s Violin Concerto #2, written in 2001 and first performed by none other than Anne-Sophie Mutter.

The highlight of the night for me was definitely Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Each of its four sonnets is divided into three phrases--two rather fast and vivid (“allegro”) and one slow and solemn. In Spring you can almost hear birds singing charming songs and nymphs and shepherds dancing. Summer comes with sluggish chords expressing shimmering heat. A storm brings acoustic lightning, thunder and hailstones. In Autumn we hear peasants celebrating with songs, dance and wine. We also witness a hunting with bugles and gunshots. In the final set of Winter, we hear an ice skater circling while other people walk cautiously on the ice until suddenly someone falls. The skaters continues his circles and shows virtuosic figures until the ice finally breaks. Additionally there is a winter scene with the comfort and warmth of a fireplace, while “outside” rain laps against the windows.

The musicians seemed to be electrified by their music and so was the audience. Although it is common to applaud in the end of the concert, people several times applauded in between and in the end there have been standing ovations. If you are now interested in this concert, you can hear and see it here.

P.S.: I know that music actually is not fine art. But it certainly relates to the cultural world and therefore I thought my readers might enjoy a little "excursion" from seeing to hearing.