The list of international composers who have written for star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is a long one. It features names like Krzysztof Penderecki and Sofia Gubaidulina, along with Andreย Previn and Jรถrg Widmann. In recent years, women like Iranian-Dutch composer Aftab Darvishi and South Korean composer Unsuk Chin have also written works for Mutter.
On the occasion of the violinist’sย 50th stage anniversary, she’s now recorded over 30 works either dedicated to her or commissioned by her โ all part of her “ASM Forte Forward” project on the Alpha Classics label.
The first album in the series, “East Meets West,” reflects not just the artist’s musical passions but also her social engagement. The opening “Likoo for Solo Violin,” composed by Aftab Darvishi for Mutter in 2024, leaves a powerful impression. “Likoo” is a lament about loss, written at a time when especially women in Iran were fighting repression by the regime.
Giving women a voice
“I wanted to create a musical tribute to the people in Iran and to those fighting for freedom, coexistence, empathy and equality, in the hope that these atrocities would never be repeated,” Mutter told DW. “War is raging on our wonderful planet even as I’m playing, but I won’t give up hope for love and empathy.” Mutter’s performance of it is deeply moving โ one can almost hear the women’s cries in the violin, fading into silence.
With the situation in Iran deteriorating, Mutter says it’s especially important to her to keep “Likoo” in her repertoire. “I have great admiration for Persian culture and for the female composers who still live in Iran โ such as Golfam Khayam, who managed to send me her score by email during a pause in the shelling. I still hear from her from time to time,” Mutter says.
“These female composers in Iran fascinate me, and the piece ‘Likoo’ in particular. That’s why โ also sadly because of the current situation โ it’s very important to me to perform ‘Likoo’ at the anniversary concert.” The concert is being held on August 25 at the Lucerne Festival.
Her 1976 stage debut in Lucerne
On August 23, 1976, a 13-year-old Anne-Sophie Mutter took the stage at a young artists’ concert in Lucerne. It was there that conductor Herbert von Karajan first encountered the young talent. A year later, he hired her for a concert with the Berlin Philharmonic at the Salzburg Easter Festival. So began Mutter’s long collaboration with Karajan and his Berlin orchestra.
Another figure who shaped her musical life on stage in the 1980s was Swiss conductor and patron Paul Sacher. “He was a major influence on my interest in contemporary music,” Mutter says. She cherishes the undogmatic learning experience she gained from Sacher and her other mentors. Sacher always afforded her the freedom to decide how she would approach an assignment. He passed a motto on to her: “What I can’t do, I can learn. What I can’t learn today, I can learn later.”
The Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation
A four-time Grammy winner and recipient of Japan’s Praemium Imperiale, she’s now supporting highly gifted young musicians through the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. She encourages her scholarship recipients to embrace social engagement alongside contemporary music. She’s herself a supporter of humanitarian organizations such as Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders, and from 2021 to 2025 served as German Cancer Aid’s chairwoman.
It’s difficult for young musicians to build an audience and make money with contemporary music, Mutter says. “All the same, I want to keep them grounded and show them it’s not just about getting rich and famous; they have a role to play in society โ in social environments. Playing at a nursing home, for example, or teaching, supporting charitable organizations with benefit concerts.”
A platform for composers
As well, Mutter uses the work she commissions โ including from former and current scholarship recipients โ to help advance their careers. “I want to give these pieces a platform, along with a recorded presence. Without that, these wonderful works couldn’t be heard all over the world.”
The next album in the “ASM Forte Forward” series being released for the anniversary is “American Tunes #1.” It includes works by Andreย Previn, whom Mutter was married to for four years, as well as USย composer Sebastian Currier, who has written several pieces for Mutter.ย
“It gives me particular pleasure that many works by colleagues from my foundation, as well as by former and current scholarship recipients, have actually been recorded,” Mutter says. “I have managed to put many of my young musicians at the center of this new ‘Forte Forward’ series, and that makes me very happy.”
Albums of memories
To further mark her onstage milestone, Mutter has planned several projects with her longtime label, Deutsche Grammophon. Among them is the release of seven location-centered albums featuring selected works โ pieces that, as in the case of the city of Lucerne, were premiered there or hold special significance in Mutter’s musical life.
So far, “My Berlin,” “My London” and, in connection with the anniversary concert in Lucerne, “My Lucerne” have been released digitally. The seven planned albums will follow the artist around the globe, from Berlin, London and Lucerne to Tokyo and New York.ย
Anne-Sophie Mutter’s constant companion is her Stradivarius violin. “The violin is the coolest instrument in the universe. For 50 years I’ve tried again and again to show that,” she says.
The instrument is her voice, too, she adds:ย “I find it fascinating how music becomes so expressive precisely where language ends, and how in this cosmos of creativity we can connect, discover ourselves, give ourselves over to expression, and truly experience life.”
This article was originally written in German.