2006 Nov 19 Carnegie Hall - Anne-Sophie Mutter

Today, it is really a eye-opening experience to me. At the beginning, I don't really like this violinist. I think, due to her Hollywood-like appearance, she may not be a good musician. In fact, the fact told it all. At her first, clean, and sharp performance on Mozart's Sonata in F major, K. 376, I immediately know I was wrong about her. She is quite a stable, experienced artist, accompanied with the soft and fluent piano by Lambert Orkis, the whole show is a enjoyable trip to my soul. Following is the schedule of the whole show.



Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Violin Sonata in F Major, K. 376 (1781)
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. ROndo: Allegretto grazioso

Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, K. 481 (1785)
I. Molto allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto con variazion

Violin Sonata in G Major, K. 379 (1781)
I. Adagio-Allegro
II. Tema con variazioni: Andantino cantabile

intermission

Violin Sonata in E Minor, K. 304 (1778)
I. Allegro
II. Tempo di Menuetto

Violin Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 454 (1784)
I. Largo-Allegro
II. Andante
III. Allegretto

After the performance, the audience is quite sweet and supportive, she later give a short piece of another Sonata ( I'm still looking for the name of it).

In general: introduction ( quoted from the handout )

Violin Sonatas- or to put it in contemporaneous terms, sonatas for keyboard with violin accompaniment- were traditionally a late 18th-century composer's first calling card: whereas Baroque composers often introduced themselves publicly through trio sonatas, for Classical composers it was accompanied sonatas. Mozart was no exception, and throughout his life, accompanied sonatas player an important role in establishing his credentials as both a composer and a performer. He was no mean violinist, either. When he performed a concerto by Johann Baptist" ... we had a little concert here [and] as a finale I played my last cassation in B-flat [K. 287]. They all opened their eyes! I played as though I were the finest fiddler in all Europe. " Leopold, who knew Mozart better than anyone, wrote back: " I'm not surprised ... You yourself do not know how well you play the violin, if you will only do yourself credit and play with energy, with your whole heart and mind, yes, just as if you were the finest violinist in Europe."