Review by Anne-Sophie Mutter – The star violinist celebrates 50 years in style | Classical music

Ohn 23 August, 1976, the 13-year-old violinist made his debut at the Lucerne concert – with his older brother Christoph on piano. When the concert ended, Anne-Sophie Mutter was the toast of the festival, invited to play no less than Herbert von Karajan. This was the beginning of a career that has produced more than 50 albums, four Grammy awards, and the works of a Who’s Who of 20th-century greats: Krzysztof Penderecki; Henri Dutilleux; Witold Lutosławski; Sofia Gubaidlina; John Williams.

So, at 62, Mutter is celebrating 50 years on stage. And he’s doing it his way. If anyone expected the German star to kick off his anniversary tour on Saturday night with a big concert, they would have been disappointed. Just a little filling Barbican Hall also said fans can vote with their feet. Those who risked it found Mutter in an activist position, using his platform not to focus on successes but to promote new music and young artists.

Both were represented in Aftab Darvishi’s Likoo – the sound of a solo violin whose low-end voice and vibrato-free opening song mourns the women who have been silenced, imprisoned and killed by the Iranian government. Sadness turns to anger, rhapsodic and insistence, before falling to a whisper in the music that speaks of the nature of the violin virtuoso (the spirit of Bach is here, Paganini too) to give an intimate, confessional expression.

It’s a wonderful piece, but its expressive tone and the weight that permeates it sit awkwardly between two occasional pieces by Mutter’s husband and longtime collaborator André Previn. Both the piano-violin Fifth Season (Vivaldi’s companion – the changing season) and the straightforward, jazz-inspired Piano Trio No 1 are the creations of, as Mutter said, “a man without a home”: musical magic, landing everywhere and not settling anywhere.

Mutter’s subtlety and generosity of voice, his quick delivery, made an event out of everything he played, but it was a relief after a while for Beethoven to carry the burden. His last “Archduke” Trio gave Mutter, vocalist Maximilian Hornung and pianist Lauma Skride the chance to play regularly. Passionately sung and soulful, it was a delightful statement for the band: a statement of purpose from a soloist more passionate about the music than fame.