Rating: * * * * *
Anne-Sophie Mutter first recorded Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in 1980 with the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan. On the record sleeve was the earnest 17-year-old virtuoso in a shapeless, voluminous jumper.
Almost three decades later, the cover of her new recording of the work,
this time with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Kurt Masur, shows an elegant prima violinista assoluta in a glamorous blue gown against a backdrop of pink daisies.
Mutter now professes guilt for being too young to appreciate Mendelssohn the first time round, not trusting the sincerity of the music, fearing, God forbid, that she might not be German enough or sufficiently stern.
Today, at 46, she makes magnificent amends, as you can hear when she sprints to the Finale's finish line with the zest and zip of a teenage prodigy.
Her new interpretation is more than a matter of speed, however. She takes the time to dwell over the sweetness of the first movement's second subject and it is significant that we see these sections in close-up on the DVD performance of the work.
Mutter's Andante has a winning innocence, without relinquishing hints at deeper emotions, when she surges above Masur's musicians. Perhaps the two chamber works on the disc don't quite match the esprit of the concerto, although Lynn Harrell and Andre Previn are as determined as she is to transform the Andante of the D minor Trio into the tenderest of songs without words.
Mutter and Previn join forces for the F major Violin Sonata in a brilliant partnership, from the unexpected gravitas of the Adagio to a right scamper through its glittering Finale.
Deutsche Grammophon is generous in offering a DVD that includes all three works as well as a short documentary on the composer. Naturally, it gives Mutter the chance to change gowns when the sonata comes along, although the trio sees her in slacks with stiletto heels of fetishistic proportions.
More importantly, seeing these artists illuminate the music of the too-often-misunderstood Mendelssohn gives a personal and human dimension that would have immensely pleased its composer.
William Dart
