Gramophone – September 2019

Amusicianneedsthechancetogrow–noneofusbecame

whoweareovernight.’

Thismightsoundcurmudgeonly,wereitnotforthefact

thatthroughherownfoundation,setup 21 yearsago,

Mutterinveststimeand,sometimes,moneyinmentoring

youngerartists,totrytodeveloptheirtalentsintheright

direction.OneexampleistheSlovakdoublebassplayer

RomanPatkaló.‘WhatcouldIdowithhim?Iaskedalotof

composerstowriteforhim,becauseitwasclearhewasan

amazingsoloist.Pendereckiwroteforhim,WolfgangRihm

wroteforhim.Myfoundationpaidforthat,becauseheneeded

repertoiresothathecouldshine.’

Againstthatsuccessstory,however,sheadmitsthatthe

organisation‘survivesorfallswiththeyoungmusiciansIfind.

Youcangiveallthehelpyouwant,butattheendoftheday,

people’slivesareunpredictable,andsometimesIjustdon’t

understandhowsomemusicianshavecareersandothers,

whoIfindsuperiorormoreinteresting,gonowhere.’

WhenIaskwhointheyoungergenerationssheiscurrently

inspiredby,shementionsthe14-year-oldBritishprodigy

AlmaDeutscher,aviolinistandcomposerwho’shadthe

misfortunetobechristened‘LittleMissMozart’bysome

inthemedia.‘IhavebroughttogetherherandJörgWidmann,’

Muttersays.‘She’snotofficiallymyscholar,butIliketo

keeptrackofwhatshe’sdoing.Sheisgiftedandintelligent

enoughtogrowupintosomeonewhogenuinelyhasher

ownmusicalvoice.Sheisahugetalent,andsothereare

afewofusmusicianshoveringoverherandhopingthat

everythinggoeswellforher.’

WhatelsehasMuttergotonherplate?Performingextracts

from‘AcrosstheStars’willbeanothernewexperience,

becauseshe’lltakethemtobigopen-airvenuesunfamiliar

toher.‘I’llbesharingmusicwithfilmfans,and,youknow,

alsoshowingthemhowutterlyfascinatingtheviolinis.But

I’mnotintendingtopersuadeanyonetocomeandlistento

Bachsolos.’Attheotherextremeofliveperformance,shehas

lovedgivingrecitalsinmusicclubs(herYellowLoungealbum

isarecordofthis).‘It’sasmallroomwheretheaudienceisclose

toyou.Theycanseeyousweatandseewhathardworkitisto

perform.It’swhereyoucantalktotheaudience,whereit’sOK

tohavefun.It’skindof,“Wow!”’

In 2020 therewillbeBeethoven,naturally,forit’san

anniversaryyear.In1998,Mutterundertookadaunting

touroftheentireBeethovensonatacycle,andrecordeditlive.

‘ButnextyearwillbetremendousbecauseIfinallyhavethe

chancetogetclosetolateBeethoven.It’sanewjourney,

andit’sagoodmomentinmylifetodothat–becausein 2021

Iwilltakeayearoffandtotallyrestructuremylife.’

MutterhassprungacliffhangeransweronmeandI’m

notentirelysureevensheknowswhatshemeansbyit.

Afterthisgapyear,whatwillcharacterisetherebootedMutter?

‘Performingless.Havingmorestudytime.Ineedtorefocus–

onhowIcanbeamoreusefulmemberofhumansociety.’

Perhapssheisthinkingbacktothatboy’smagicviolin,

andwhatgoodthingsshecanmakebiggerifshejustplaysit

intherightdirection.

‘AcrosstheStars’onDGisreleasedonAugust 30

gramophone.co.uk GRAMOPHONESEPTEMBER 201921

ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER

‘I’ll be sharing music with film fans and

showing them how fascinating the violin

is, not persuading them to listen to Bach’

PHOTOGRAPHY:

HARALD HOFFMANN/DG

SIGCD578

JOSEPH NOLAN

A new expansive

collection of Widor’s

complete organ works.

Recorded over 8 years;

captured on organs

made by the great

French organ builder

Aristide Cavaillé-Coll,

and performed by

celebrated organist

JosephNolan.

MARKVANDEWEIL

PhilharmoniaOrchestra

Thepremiererecordingof

Phibbs’ClarinetConcerto.

Followingalongfriendship

betweencomposerand

soloist,thetwocollaborated

ocreatethisstunningand

virtuosicnewworkforthe

clarinetandorchestra.

CLARE WILKINSON

FRETWORK

A digital only release

including great consort

songs by Byrd, Gibbons and

Purcell, transcriptions of

Britten, Wolf and Nyman and

Fretwork’s own transcription

of a Shostakovich Prelude

and Fugue.

CALA SIGNUM

Signum Records are proud

to announce a collaboration

with Cala Records. 5 albums

from the back catalogue will

receive a physical reissue

this month, with 5 more due

out in later in the year.

SIGCD826

SIGCD2092, SIGCD2093,

SIGCD2007, SIGCD2163,

SIGCD2162

SIGCD596

Distributed by [PIAS] in the UK & WWW.SIGNUMRECORDS.COM

Naxos of America in the USA