Anne-Sophie Mutter may be the only contemporary violinist who can be billed with just her initials, or who could issue a 40-CD box-set compilation of her recordings in the reasonable expectation that it would sell. This two-disc set is a sampler from the larger box. A point in its favor is that it includes one of the rarities from the complete item: a recording of the 11-year-old
Mutter playing one movement of the
Prokofiev Sonata for solo violin in D minor, Op. 115. Two years later, she would come to the attention of
Herbert von Karajan, who, whatever his flaws, realized that her rich, Olympian tone provided the perfect complement to his orchestral visions. The first disc contains several examples of her work with
Karajan, alternating concerto movements with recital pieces, both orchestral and piano accompanied. What strikes the listener is how consistent the basic
Mutter tone and approach remained as she began to work with other conductors and then to broaden her repertory beyond the Romantic masterpieces, first into modern music with
Lutoslawski's Partita for violin and orchestra (which she commissioned), and then into the Baroque with an ebullient
Vivaldi Four Seasons performed with the Trondheim Soloists. That's an ensemble about as far from
Karajan's
Berlin Philharmonic as you can imagine. Even in
Heifetz's arrangement of It Ain't Necessarily So, not a work in which you would expect
Mutter to excel, the basic
Mutter style carries the day. It's worth noting that, since a 40-CD set is out of the reach of most listeners, this two-disc set might have included a bit more in the way of complete works than it does. The only one included is the
Vivaldi "Winter" concerto from the Four Seasons, not really a representative example of her style. But in general this gives newcomers an enticing taste of one of the major violinists of our time.