"The greatest youthful talent since Yehudi Menuhin." "A violinist who sets new standards of performance." The publicity comments were predictable, but the authors were not: Herbert von Karajan and Mstislav Rostropovich. Anne-Sophie Mutter, the talent under discussion, who made her Carnegie Hall recital debut at the end of 1988, is far from a predictable phenomenon.
A concert violinist who began her collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor, Karajan, at fourteen, she is perhaps best known to the American public from posters showing her performing in a strapless Dior gown, her long blond hair loose about her bare shoulders. To managers, she's known as a talent who can fill any hall. To her musical colleagues and critics, she is already one of the great masters of the instrument.
Mutter was born in a small town in southwest Germany in 1963, and began piano lessons at the age of five. Soon she switched to the violin, and her parents enrolled her in the Winterthur Conservatory in Switzerland. By the time she was seven, Mutter had won the highest acclaim ever given in a nationwide youth competition. On the same occasion, she and her brother Christoph shared a prize in the piano four-hands category.
Other competition honors were soon to follow, but the most important one was in 1976, when she and her brother played at the Lucerne Festival. This led to an invitation for the thirteen-year-old violinist to play for Karajan in Berlin. The entire Berlin Philharmonic sat amazed as the teenage soloist played parts of a Mozart concerto and Bach's grueling Chaconne in D minor.
Mutter was immediately contracted to play in the next year's Salzburg Festival. Her success was such that her appearances there have become something of an annual event. More importantly, Karajan became her patron and ardent supporter. Her association with him brought many performance opportunities, as well as the chance to meet and work with such artists as Rostropovich, Menuhin, and the late Peter Pears.
Blossoming Career
Mutter's European career blossomed. Concerto appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and Mozarteum orchestras were quickly succeeded by recordings, which now average one a year. Recital tours and chamber music were soon added, beginning with duets in which she was paired with Hungarian pianist Alexis Weissenberg.
This past season, Mutter undertook one of her most demanding tours yet, fourteen concerts in an eighteen-day tour crossing America from coast to coast. It was a brilliant success and part of the master plan being developed by Douglas Sheldon of Columbia Artists, who manages Mutter's concerts in North and South America and the Far East. Presently the person chiefly responsible for shaping Mutter's career, Sheldon spoke about the day-to-day specifics and long-term goals he has worked out with Mutter, and how they relate to her development.
Managing a Great Artist
For the 1988 tour, Sheldon found himself with the unusual problem of managing a great artist who was not too well known. The impression,
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