Expansive Bruch
Scott68 | Columbus, Ohio United States | 03/20/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a review for Ms Mutter's recording of the Bruch. If you have never heard the beauty of this concerto you don't know what you're missing! My favorite recordings of the wonderful Bruch Concerto One are by Kyung Wha Chung and Pinchas Zukerman who both played with incredible beauty. What I found liberating about this recording is Ms Mutter's willingness to stretch out with her feelings. I think that she recieves alot of criticism for her personalized interpretations that stray from the composer's intent but come on, who wants to her it played the same way over and over? I believe this is her intention: to deliver a highly personalized performance full of an individualized style. That is certainly the case here, Ms Mutter delivers a wonderful Bruch that is expanded with her ideas especilly with respect to rythm and tempo. An individualized approach to a great work keeps the piece fresh as though it were a different piece of music, I still enjoy listening to this recording after many years of listening. Other than that, we get to look at another photo of her gorgeous face and that is another bonus for me.Thanks Annie!"
A foursquare, dawdling Mendelssohn, but the Bruch comes to l
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 02/16/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Let me admit right off that I am not a fan of Mutter's, early or late, and don't collect her recordings. She seems to me to be an empty stylist with mannerisms in place of insight. Here we get her in her Wunderkind phase, with glossy accompaniments from Karajan. The Mendelsoohn is especially distressing in its lack of inner vibrancy; it dawdles along without much spirit or sparkle. The Bruch shows more vigor on the soloist's part, and naturally the playing per se is impeccable. This is by far the better performance, and fully worthy of Mutter's early brilliance. It's often movingly phrased, albeit the touches of glossiness from Karajan aren't a help.
I'm a great admirer of Karajan, but he was often disappointing as an accompanist (leaving aside seome great work on EMI with the Philharmonia) and often bad at picking soloists (again excepting his early work with Lipati, Gieseking, et al.). His choice of Mutter was at least commerically canny, given her current superstar status, but I found this whole CD dispiriting."
Fantastic
Southern Man | Raleigh, NC | 01/25/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"
These are two of the most popular violin concertos in the repertoire and both are highly Romantic, so this should be a dream pairing. Well, in the hands of Ann Sophie Mutter and Herbert von Karajan, it is.
Ms. Mutter's playing comes across as effortless. For me the hallmark of virtuosity is that the playing doesn't come across as virtuoso but as completely natural. The accompaniment by the Berlin ensemble is very lush and always empathetic to Ms. Mutter's performance.
Although both pieces are performed flawlessly, I find the Mendelssohn to be demonstration worthy. Put this on this when you have friends over without saying anything. If they don't demand to know what CD it is, they're no great fans of music."
