Mozart • The Violin Concertos - Highlights Anne-Sophie Mutter and the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Thus, given her feelings about Mozart’s violin concertos, these performances of Concerto No.2 in D major, No.1 in B flat major and No.4 in D major should be very good at the least and excellent at the best. After my initial listen, I think exceptional is more accurate. Mutter plays with just the proper balance of technique, melodic harmony, and humor (given Mozart's personality, humor pervades all of the compositions in one form or another). She also understands that silence can enhance the musical experience, and Mutter uses it to do exactly that, though there is nothing slow or plodding about these performances. Given the performances, any letdown in the sound would shatter an otherwise extraordinary album. Fortunately, JVC has taken the tapes and, using their 24-bit XRCD mastering process, extracted every last nuance of the playing as well as the space between the notes to perfection. Mutter’s violin is placed where it should be, just left of center, and is incredibly well recorded. You can hear both the short, choppy bow strokes as well as the longer bowing clearly. The orchestra is equally well captured. The musicians are spread across the soundstage and with enough depth to make you feel you are at the recording session. While opinion of the vast majority of contemporary
Deutsche Grammophon recordings is that they sound a bit thin, shrill and lacking in
foundation, you won’t find any of that to be the case here. One listen will tell you
that whatever the original recording's faults, they can’t be laid at the feet of the
mastering engineer. This world-class performance is only enhanced by the equally
top-quality sound. If you are as big a fan of Mozart and Anne-Sophie Mutter as I am, this
disc will take a top spot in your classical library. |
ozart is most readily
associated with the piano, and rightly so as some of his keyboard works are among his very
best. But let's not forget that he was just as prodigious a player and composer for the
violin. Around 1775, when he was only 19, he wrote all five of his violin concertos -- an
amazing feat for someone so young. These concertos have become an essential part of the
repertoire of any violinist worth his or her salt. Anne-Sophie Mutter has been playing
Mozart’s concertos since she began on the violin. Mutter notes that these concertos
are notable not only for their melodic beauty but also for the expressiveness and
technical prowess required to play them. To her, they are as much about the beauty as they
are about the bowing technique and the spaces between the notes. To quote, "With
Mozart every note is precious, and has to be thought about -- particularly as the
orchestration leaves you painfully exposed."