Anne-Sophie Mutter: American Tunes #1

The Strad Issue: October 2026

Description: Previn is the standout composer here in premiere recordings

Musicians: Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin) Daniel Müller-Schott (cello) Roman Patkoló (double bass) Knut Johannessen (harpsichord) Lambert Orkis (piano) Mutter’s Virtuosi

Works: Currier: Ringtone Variations. Previn: Violin Concerto no.2; Piano Trio

Catalogue number: ALPHA 1254

This disc’s somewhat unassuming title hardly does justice to the three substantial, demanding works on the second volume of Anne-Sophie Mutter’s new series for Alpha. The violinist has close relationships with those works’ two composers, the first of whom – André Previn – was her husband for several years, and maintained a close connection with Mutter even after their divorce.

That intimacy shines through clearly in Mutter’s perceptive and deeply passionate account of Previn’s 2012 Violin Concerto no.2: she maintains a thick, resonant and deeply expressive sound throughout his sometimes Bartók- or Hindemith-like writing, and her strongly defined playing serves his neo-Classical clarity well. There’s wonderfully incisive, gritty playing, too, from her backing band of Mutter’s Virtuosi, captured so closely that you can almost hear the texture of bow on string. There’s a similar neo-Classical primness to Previn’s 2009 Trio, and though cellist Daniel Müller-Schott proves Mutter’s equal in terms of passion and expressivity, pianist Lambert Orkis – Mutter’s long-time recital partner – struggles to match their bold declamations.

In between, the quirky Ringtone Variations by another regular Mutter collaborator, Sebastian Currier, gets as witty and thoughtful an account as you could imagine from the violinist and double bassist Roman Patkoló, who navigate the piece’s incessant switchbacks between chilly phone-like tones and warmer, fantastical variations very persuasively, even if the piece’s lone joke rather outstays its welcome.

DAVID KETTLE