Anne Sophie Mutter, credit: © Tina Tahir / DG
Anne- Sophie Mutter is a talented violinist , one of the leading instrumentalists of the Deutsche Grammophon. At the age of 13, she made her public debut on stage under the baton of one of the greatest conductors of the twentieth century - Herbert von Karajan. After the concert, Mutter started playing as a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra . Krzysztof Penderecki wrote several songs for her and now "La Follia" is the fourth song dedicated to the German violinist. Previously, Polish composer Witold Lutosławski also dedicated her "Chain II'' and the orchestral version of ''Partita'' as a wedding gift.
This Saturday, 14 December 2014 at the Carnegie Hall, audiences are welcome to hear Mutter's world premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s most recent gift, “La Follia”. The song is a set of variations built on a repeating chord progression, or ground bass, which was popular in the Renaissance and Baroque eras.
Mutter expresses her respect for Penderecki on her own website:
“The great Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki is, in the complexity of his musical development, equal to Picasso. I met and learned to admire Penderecki at the beginning of the eighties. Now I feel extremely fortunate and privileged to be able to introduce a violin concerto from him to the world. [The song] requires my best technical skills and yet gives me tremendous musical fulfillment. For me, this work is a physical and psychological challenge, which I often accept with tremendous gratitude.”
The concert will open with Mutter’s performance of Lutosławski’s “Partita”. The recital program will also include works by Schubert , Saint- Saëns and Violin Sonata No. 2 by André Previn . The performance is part of the project "My Time , My Music " implemented at New York City’s Carnegie Hall - one of the most prestigious concert halls in the world.
Listen to Mutter’s performance of Lutosławski’s "Partita".
Edited by E.M., 10/12/2013