If this is the last ever entry I will have time to make on this
message board scheduled for termination in April, "Anne-Sophie
Mutter in Montreal" is certainly the way to go out. I have wanted
to attend a concert in the heart of Montreal's "spectacular
quarter" for years. Luck was on my side; I picked the only March
days above freezing to visit. That brought its own perils: the
entire city was awash in melting snow and mud, and even the
St. Lawrence River gave signs of thawing. But at least it was
not hurricane season like New York in 2018, where I barely got
to the concert.

Anne-Sophie Mutter's strapless ball gown was in elegant black,
but rainbow-hued flowers on the hemline dovetailed with her
blood-red lipstick. Her recital is also elegant and bold. She
started with Mozart's surpassingly lovely KV 304 sonata. The
piece -- especially the 2nd movement, its last -- is one of
my favorite sonatas ever recorded by the German violinist. I
found her live performance overly harsh and strident, perhaps
the consequence of reaching for new interpretations in this last
stop of her North American tour.

I heard Mutter and accompanish Lambert Orkis play the Debussy
sonata in their New York recital during Mutter's residence with
the NYP a few years ago. This was what I wrote:

"I have underestimated the Debussy sonata for violin and piano
in F minor because of its modest length. Mutter recorded it a
decade ago, but having heard it live I have a much better
appreciation of its quiet but passionate virtuosicity. Sitting
in the middle of the fourth row, not 10 feet from the stage, I
could see Mutter's silent gasp of relief as she finished."

Mutter played it effortlessly this time, with textbook precision,
just like in her album, and did not need to take a deep breathe
afterward. As usual she brought to the stage a towel which she
would drapd over her shoulder when playing difficult pieces; such
was her confidence that night, she did not use it once.

The Ravel sonata was for me the centerpiece of the concert. It
is heavily influenced by jazz music, so improvisation is only
to be expected. Mutter's interpretation was nothing less than
revolutionary; it was so different from the way Janine Jansen
played, and from the _Un Coeur en Hiver_ soundtrack, I barely
recognized the first movement at first. She was stunning; I wish
she would record it soon. The "perpetual motion" last movement
is incredibly difficult and she made it look easy. Incidentally,
I semi-jokingly disparaged her plucking last year. The second
movement is dominated by pizzicato, and Mutter's plucking was
absolutely flawless. Lambert Orkis gave an energetic piano
accompaniment that did not call too much attention to itself,
unlike the case with the Janine Jansen concert not long ago.

After the intermission, Mutter rolled out Mozart's KV 454. It
was probably my least favorite sonata among those she recorded,
but in a live performance it was marvelously alive. It let
her open her arms and let it rip, unlike the more sedate KV 304.
Still, the piece is dominated by the piano. The slow movement
is very beautiful, and the overall structure is sufficiently
simple that even I could understand it.

The same cannot be said of the Poulenc sonata, which I listened
to 20 times before the concert and still found it perplexing.
In Mutter's hand, however, it was very convincing. The liner
notes claim that Poulenc admired Brahms, and indeed in her
interpretation there is a lot of Brahms in the piece. I've
always thought that Mutter, with her robust, powerful bowing
that seeks to draw blood with every note, was born to play
Brahms. The Poulenc flatters her technique (and does not suit
Midori, whose recording I studied).

The Poulenc sonata alternates between lyrical passages and
impish, jokey segments. Especially at the end, it tends to
confuse audiences, making them applaud prematurely. The
Montreal audience is exceptionally knowledgeable and well
behaved. No one applaud at the wrong place even once. This
is especially remarkable because no more than half of them
have white hair! (Montreal has the youthful energy of
Manhattan; I consider it the Second City of the continent.)
On the flip side, there is a distinct lack of spontaneous
passion. The Ravel sonata before the intermission definitely
merited a standing ovation, but the audience didn't even
try.

For encore, Mutter picked an Australian fiddling piece arranged
by Heifetz. Then, as I anticipated, she paid tribute to Andre
Previn (her ex-husband and frequent collaborator) and played the
slow movement of his "Tango Song and Dance." It was by far my
favorite piece written by Previn. (Unlike the time she debutted
it in New york, she did not use a mute in the second half. The
mute seems to have gone out of fashion; a recent performance of
the Beethoven Emperor Concerto I attended skipped it too.) It
was an incredibly emotional moment, and the perfect ending to
my 16th Mutter concert.

(for A.)

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