Anne-Sophie Mutter 4/13/2008

Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Lambert Orkis, piano
Sunday, April 13 2008
Orchestra Hall, Chicago IL

Brahms: Sonata No. 2 in A Major, op. 100
Brahms: Sonata No. 1 in G Major, op. 78
Brahms: Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, op. 108

This was a performance at the very highest level. Anne-Sophie Mutter, who has been playing internationally for thirty years, appears to be at the height of her prime. Her recital, which featured all three of the Brahms Violin Sonatas, highlighted not only her complete and total technical mastery of the instrument, but a deep conviction to a specific musical vision. Mutter’s fidelity to this vision allowed her to play completely effortlessly and totally convincingly, which in turn allowed her audience to sink into Brahms’s thoroughly sublime works, along with the irresistible and compelling flavor of expression of the performers.

So what exactly was Mutter’s vision? Primarily, it was one concerned with sound. All boundaries regarding timbre, color, dynamic range, and articulation were obliterated, leaving Mutter a three-dimensional, limitless sound world to explore. She went to every corner of this world, and did it in a way which remained true to the score, and which allowed each sonata to be performed with cohesion. One of the main reasons this was successful was because of Mutter’s interminable technique, which allowed her execute any idea with total control and clarity. For example, a phrase in the third sonata containing a dotted note followed by sixteenths was played twice in a row, once at the heel of the frog and then again at the very tip of the tip. This allowed her to use a lot of bow on the dotted note, and to sustain it to the end, instead of having to retake it. The thing that was most amazing about this phrase was that the articulation and the sound density and color were exactly the same at the extreme tip and at the extreme frog. The control of the bow which allowed Mutter to make this bowing choice also allowed her to shape the phrase in a way that I had not heard before. It sounded amazing. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw where in the bow she was playing.

This technical control of the bow allowed Mutter to reach extremes in dynamics that one might not have ever imagined for the music of Brahms. The palette of softs, in particular, was especially impressive. Mutter’s overall spectrum of colors was not unlike those which have been utilized by Lynn Harrell, in regard to scope. Absent in her playing, however, was the almost gaudy emotionalism which can sometimes be present in Harrell’s sound. Mutter had a similar range of color and dynamic, and character too, but with a more even approach to expression. Her expression, in fact, looked backwards to Beethoven, to classicism—just as Brahms did. Just below the surface was an ache and a longing, which hinted at the possibility of what all could be there. Especially in the third sonata, that possibility was made more visible, but never to the point where the audience could tell exactly how much Mutter was capable of. This created an oceanic quality to the performance—even though we couldn’t feel it all, we could sense the endless depth beneath everything we heard.

Lastly, the musical and stage rapport between Mutter and Orkis was quite wonderful. The way they played together in such a completely intertwined way indicated that each was living every note of the other’s part at all times. They approached their work on Sunday afternoon with such solemn grace and decorum that one could not help but share in their reverence for the music, and listen with sincere and open ears.

Despite the rumors that Mutter may soon be retiring, I for one will eagerly await her next performance.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra 3/13/2008

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Thursday 3/13/2008
Manfred Honeck, conductor
John Sharp, cello

Verdi—La forza del destino
Saint-Saens—Cello Concerto No. 1
R. Strauss—Ein Heldenleben

This was an interesting concert because there were moments of great profundity and great perfunctory. The program opened with a Verdi Overture, which was played effortlessly by the orchestra. A standout moment was a pianissimo section at the end, in which all of the strings were playing so quietly and with so little hair that their bows were barely moving at all. The sound effect was very cool.

The Saint-Saens Concerto was executed very cleanly by principal cellist John Sharp. His control of the instrument was to a fault, unfortunately, in that he seemed to privilege clarity over expression, which left the audience wondering who John Sharp was. The music also sounded silly, as it was a composition of desperate character being played by a totally square 50 year old guy who kept his head down the whole time. Also disappointing where the occasional and half-hearted “Harrell-istic” slides and gross uses of vibrato. They only contributed to a louder asking of the question, “Who is John Sharp?”

Luckily, the audiences ears were cleansed by an amazing performance of Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben. The strings sounded phenomenal. Concertmaster Robert Chen’s solos were wonderful. Dale Clevenger played with the suave of the entire Rat Pack. The winds and brass, overall, were in rare form. This concert made up for the disappointment I felt when I heard the CSO play Alpine Symphony last February, which was kind of a mess. This performance of Ein Heldenleben reminded me of the performance the CSO gave of Petrushka a few weeks ago with Boulez—all of the disjointed sections came together in a cohesive way, which suggested that the whole orchestra was on the same page. It made for a very effective performance.