Mutter/Karajan: Great Violin Concertos - DG 2740 282 (4LP box set)

$

67

ITEM DESCRIPTION:

This lovely 4LP box set – a superb collector’s copy – from LP from Deutsche Grammophon (2740 282, West German pressing, white circle label, stereo, booklet included) entitled “Anne-Sophie Mutter / Herbert von Karajan · Great Violin Concertos” gathers together all of the works these two great artists had recorded up to that time, missing only the “live” VPO Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto from Salzburg, which would come later. Any of these stunning performances could serve as a reference version, and DG’s sound is superb throughout.

 

Note: Except in the case of the two Mozart Concerti, all are digital recordings. Also worth noting is the fact that all were made with the Berliner Philharmoniker in the Philharmonie, Berlin. The complete contents of this set, with the session dates, are provided below.

 

Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 61

> rec. in September 1979

(Note: Mutter plays Fritz Kreisler’s cadenzas in Op. 61)

 

Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 77

> rec. in September 1981

(Note: Mutter plays Joseph Joachim’s cadenzas in Op. 61)

 

Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor Op. 26

> rec. in September 1980

 

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor Op. 64

> rec. in September 1980

 

Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major K. 216

> rec. in February 1978

(Note: Mutter plays Sam Franko’s cadenzas in K. 216)

 

Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major K. 219 “Turkish”

> rec. in February 1978

(Note: Mutter plays Joseph Joachim’s cadenzas in K. 219)

 

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Of this box set the critic T.H. wrote in his review for the September 1983 issue of The Gramophone:

 

“There cannot be many artists who, like Anne-Sophie Mutter, made their first concerto record at the age of 15 (K216 and 219) and who, still only in their 20th year, have a 'retrospective' boxed set of virtually all their solo concerto performances to date. (I except the Beethoven Triple Concerto—DG 2531 262, 5/80—since she is there only one of three; the Mozart Violin Concertos, K211 and 218—HMV ASD4185, 11/82; and the Bach violin concertos issued this month and reviewed on page 328.) Moreover, she has been accompanied by Karajan and the BPO throughout. Some will say that this gives her an advantage. So it does; as it would give an advantage to any soloist—but not more than that, I think. If you listen to these performances you can scarcely deny that she has deserved every step of her extraordinary career, a career that culminates here in her superb account of the Brahms Concerto of which EG rightly commented "it makes me wonder how in years to come Mutter can possibly better this".

 

“One way in which I hope she will develop is in her repertoire. This, as the volume makes clear, consists entirely, so far, of the great German classics. One appreciates her decision (to which she has rightly kept) to add roughly only one concerto a year to her repertoire; but I look forward to the record when she branches out—perhaps into one of those by Prokofiev.

 

“But my business here is with what she has already achieved and no praise can be too high for that. As I remarked above, the two Mozart concertos marked her debut and since then she has shown that, good as these were, she was not most at home in them. Her intonation is impeccable, as always, her care for phrasing and detail remarkable for so young a player. But lovely though her tone is, some will find it too full and Romantic for the young Mozart. With Beethoven she comes right into her own. This is a superlative performance in every aspect. Edward Greenfield was wrong, by the way, when in his review of this he suspected that I did not appreciate a reflective reading.

 

“I had not then even heard Mutter! He was writing about Kyung Wha Chung (Decca digital SXDL7508, 8/80) and based his assumption on my less-than-enthusiastic review of that record. Well, I remain unenthusiastic about Chung; but Mutter can do what I think Chung can not do and that is to sustain the beauty and interest of a reflective performance to a greater degree. And that is also true of Karajan, as it was not of Kondrashin who accompanied Chung. My criticism was, however, mainly directed at the finale in which I thought Chung too cautious and even dainty. That cannot be said of Mutter whose finale is played with considerably more verve and zest. The slow movement is a marvel of sustained eloquence (but surely Karajan has the mutes removed from bar 30 to bar 40).

 

“Of the rest I expected the Bruch to be good, but it was the Mendelssohn that particularly took my fancy, not only for the skill of the playing (and its demands are great) but for the bright-eyed interpretation, really sounding as if she were playing the work for the first time. It is an enchanting performance. But if Mendelssohn makes technical demands, Brahms makes formidable interpretative ones. How commanding is her very first entry! And that she has no lack of tone is shown time and time again, in places where it is obvious that Karajan is not holding his orchestra back.

 

“The first two discs, by the way, are analogue recordings; but when analogue is as good as this, one notices extremely little difference when the change to digital comes.”

 

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And it seems worth reprinting the veteran critic Edward Greenfield’s review of Mutter’s Brahms Violin Concerto for the July 1982 issue of The Gramophone:

 

“The relevant comparisons are not just with such fine versions of the Brahms as are listed above but equally strikingly with Mutter's DG recording (also with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic) of the Beethoven Violin Concerto issued less than two years ago (2531 250, 9/80). That spacious, sweetly meditative reading was remarkable in that plainly the teenage soloist was not simply taking orders from the celebrated maestro but was taking a personal view. But the very lyricism and generally slow tempo may have suggested a degree of reticence, even caution, where in Brahms we have a fiery bravura performance in which the soloist is very much centrestage with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic in one of their most glowing Brahms performances providing eager accompaniment. It brings remarkable evidence of Anne-Sophie Mutter's development as an artist.

 

“Mutter's first entry has a fierce dark intensity to have even Perlman on HMV sounding too easy, and through that first movement Mutters tempos are consistently more urgent, with lyrical passages given sweetness and relaxation but with less lingering—as in the coda after the cadenza (as usual the Kreisler) where Mutter is very personal and relaxed but keeps the passage consistent with the rest of the movement. On Philips Krebbers of course is also remarkable for his structural coordination in total harmony with Haitink and the Concertgebouw (of which at the time he was Konzertrneister). One might say that Mutter combines the co-ordination of Krebbers with a highly individual flair comparable to Perlman's. In the slow movement Mutter and Karajan are lighter and gentler than Perlman and Giulini, less heavily Romantic, generally purer, while in the finale Mutter gains in incisiveness from the clarity and definition of the digital recording. This far outshines Ulf Hoelscher (HMV) on the only other digital version to date and as a reading, quite apart from the sound, stands among the very finest performances ever. It seems scarcely credible that an artist so young should put on disc a reading of this still formidable concerto— arguably the most taxing of all—which is so magisterially commanding and so mature. It makes me wonder how in years to come Mutter can possibly better this.”

 

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Included is a superb 14-page, full-size booklet with extensive notes on the music by Constantin Floros (Mozart, Mendelssohn, Bruch), Ingo Harden (Beethoven), Klaus Hinrich Stahmer (Brahms), and Richard Osborne (Beethoven and Brahms). All texts are provided in German, English, French, and Italian.

 

The supervising producer for these recordings was Günther Breest, while the recording supervisors were Cord Garben (Mozart) and Michel Glotz (the remaining composers). The sound engineering throughout was carried out by Günter Hermanns.

 

CONDITION:

The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

 

The condition of the box is near-MINT. There is the slight bit of shelfwear, but that that is all. Otherwise, the box appears virtually as new – this is a truly fine collector’s copy.

 

The condition of the 14-page booklet is near-MINT. There are no flaws to speak of, the pages remain bright and crisp, the binding perfect.

 

The condition of the 4 LPs is near-MINT and playback is superb throughout – again, these rate as truly fine collector’s copies.

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