Anne-Sophie Mutter in Berlin

[septimus_...@q.com]

It has long been a dream of mine to hear Anne-Sophie Mutter
play one of the violin canons with the Berlin Philharmonic.
I happened to be in Berlin for a few days, and by coincidence
she gave a concert there. The program included Andre Previn's
2nd violin concerto and Vivaldi's Four Seasons, accompanied
by the Trondheim Soloists. So it wasn't the heavy artillery
(Brahms, Beethoven, Siberlius, even Bruch) or Simon Rattle's
orchestra. Still, half a dream realized. The very modern
Philharmonic building had a decidedly asymmetric, odd shape,
with almost as many seats behind the stage as in front of it.

The Trondheim Soloists started off the evening with Britten's
"simple symphony" for string orchestra (op. 4). I have grown
fond of Britten but have not heard this relatively short piece.
The second movement ("Playful Pizzicato") is scherzo-like,
consisting entirely of players plucking their strings. The
audience applauded after this good humored effort; this was
graciously tolerated by the musicians. I was told that this
piece featured in Wes Anderson's _Moonrise Kingdom_, which I
have yet to see. (This is the excuse for posting this here,
I guess?) To complete the inversion of the traditional
symphonic structure, the third movement ("Sentimental Sarabande")
was heavy, intense, and forboding. The musicians' youth was
astonishing; the women in particular looked barely 15, and
bore a distinct resemblance to Renoir's rosy-cheeked girls
making music.

Anne-Sophie Mutter's ball gown was an incandescent lime-green.
She breezed on stage and barely waited for the applause to
subside before launching into the solo violin prelude to the
Previn #2. Even the 30+ year veteran got adrenaline rushes,
I suppose. After the lengthy intro, the soloist mostly
played short, searching passages by herself; the string
orchestra dominated. Mutter kept rolling her head during these
lulls, as if impatient to get back into action. (I was again
struck by the shock of her blond hair under the philharmonic
klieg lights; in album photographs she easily passed off as
a brunette.) The most unusual feature of the 3-movement concerto
was the inclusion of a harpsichord. Mostly silent, it was given
space to play unaccompanied for long stretches towards the end of
the first and second movements. It was as though the composer
intended to contrast Baroque continuity, exemplified by the
harpsichord, with the modern violin's 21st century attention
span. Other than this oddity, the concerto was melodic and
moving, almost a throwback to the Romantic era.

The Vivaldi was never a favorite of mine, but was really glad
I was in the audience. Mutter's play was so bright and urgent
the crescendoes seem to explode off her strings, like cold water
boiling off a red-hot plate. I've never considered her a Baroque
specialist, but Her Stravidari, Which I love for its almost
strident sound in Brahms and Romantic pieces, turned out to be
suprisingly vibrant for the vivaldi. The slow passages were
really beautifully sustained. (The audience was fairly young and
the coughing was minimal, which helped.) It was as thrilling
a performance as any of seven I've seen her play, and superior
to her recording of the piece with the Trondheim Soloists. The
Norwegian group managed a harsh, metallic sound in the "winter"
movements, perhaps appropriate; their hometown is located among the
fjoyds. The harpsichord accompaniment made it an interesting
segue from the Previn Concerto. In fact, I wonder if he didn't
write the piece with for his ex-wife for this kind of performance
in mind.

The Mutter trademark idiosyncracies were much in evidence. She
broke a few more horse hairs while attacking the more virtuoso
passages (not as many as she destroyed in the Carmen Fantasy in
New York a year earlier), set the violin on a paper towel
instead of her bare shoulder for first movement of the Autumn
concerto, and in late stages of the concert resorted to the
unlady-like technique of drying her instrument on her thousand-euro
gown -- a gesture she played for laughs. This is one thing I
like about Mutter; for all her diva tendencies (see below), she
is at heart just a hard working gal. I've been to concerts
where she played just one 30-minute concerto, but those were
in the far minority. She performed the night before somewhere
else, travelled to Berlin, and still extended herself, delivering
two full-length pieces with the string orchestra.

After the Vivaldi, Mutter made her exit and took her time with
the grand return to the stage, drawing out the applause for an
eternity (2+ minutes). I've never seen her do this. Perhaps she
felt somewhat slighted by the audience's resonse; she did play
spectacularly well, after all, and knew it. Duely chastized,
the crowd gave a standing ovation during her queenly second bow
on stage. (I heard that Europeans were usually reticent about
standing O's but she earned it.) Satisfied, she gave two enchores,
a particularly fiery rendition of the first movement of "winter,"
and then the second movement too. The audience became so passionate
that, before the second encore, she tucked at the sleeves of the
youthful concert-master to make sure the entire troupe left with
her afterwards.