Anne-Sophie Mutter on Herbert von Karajan and John Williams

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It is Anne-Sophie Mutter’s ability to blend her personal perspective with an absolute respect for the composer’s voice that creates the recognisably ‘Mutter’ character of her performances. She’s also keenly aware of musical ‘structure’, having recognised its importance upon hearing that first recording of the Violin Concerto. ‘The nobility that Menuhin brought to Beethoven’s Concerto shaped my understanding of the composer’s musical language very early on,’ she says. ‘It’s strongly related to the German spoken language, with its strange structure in which verbs at the ends of sentences describe what you started to say an hour ago! Beethoven needs incredible concentration. Although you are showing details along the way, it’s important that you never lose sight of the overriding musical thought.’