Anne-Sophie Mutter
Born on 29 June 1963, in Rheinfelden, Germany, Anne-Sophie Mutter has been an internationally acclaimed violinist since her debut in 1977 at the Salzburg Festival, and with the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
At the age of five, Mutter started playing the piano, but soon began studying the violin with Erna Honigberger, a former pupil of Carl Flesch. Honigberger died and — after a delay — Mutter resumed studying the violin at the Winterthur Conservatory in Zurich, Switzerland, with Aida Stucki, another former pupil of Flesch.
At the age of seven, Mutter won the highest acclaim ever given in a nationwide youth competition. At the age of thirteen, Mutter and her brother Christoph played at the Lucerne Festival, which resulted in Herbert von Karajan inviting her to play for him in Berlin.
At the age of fifteen, Mutter made her first recording with von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, the same year that she was named Artist of the Year.
In 1980, Mutter made her American debut with Zubin Mehta conducting the New York Philharmonic.
At the age of 22 (1985), Mutter was made an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London and the head of its faculty of international violin studies.
Mutter’s extensive repertoire includes many classical works, but she is well known for her performances of music by modern composers, including works commissioned for, or dedicated to, her by Andre Previn, Henri Dutilleux, Withold Lutoslawski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Wolfgang Rihm, and Sofia Gubaidulina. In January 1995, many of her existing recordings by modern composers were rereleased by Polygram Records on a three-CD set, ‘Mutter Modern; the composers included Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartok, Norbort Moret, and Alban Berg.
Mutter owns and plays two Stradivarius violins, a Stradivarius Emiliani (1703) and a Stradivarius Lord Dunn-Raven (1710), as well as a Roberto Regazzi (2005).
Anne-Sophie Mutter’s honors include the German Record Prize, the Record Academy Prize, the Grand Prix du Disque, the International Record Prize, and several Grammy awards.
In addition, Mutter bears the Order of Merit of the German Federal Republic (First Class), the Bavarian Order of Merit, the Austrian Honor Cross, and the ‘Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ by the French Minister of Culture, and in 2006 she was awarded the ‘Victoires de la Musique’ in Strasbourg.
Since 1997, through her Anne-Sophie Mutter Circle of Friends Foundation (‘Freundeskreis Anne-Sophie Mutter Stiftung e.V.’) in Munich, Mutter has been supporting young, talented violin, viola, cello, and contrabass soloists worldwide.
For additional information about Anne-Sophie Mutter, please visit her official Web site and Deutsche Grammophon’s artist page about Mutter.
