Anne-Sophie Mutter's strapless ball-gown was again a royal gold.
It had been two years since I saw her in Phoenix (she did not
tour the U.S. in 2016), and she looked radiant and rejunvenated.

She and Lambert Orkis toured Europe extensively with this chamber
music program, and their familiarity with it made for a flawless,
extremely polished performance. In fact this was the first time
I heard a mistake-free outing from Mutter in San Francisco;
even the magnificent Brahms concerto she rendered in 2015 had an
obvious gaffe.

I could not believe they actually led off with Currier's Clockwork.
Mutter usually likes to start with easy-going pieces. At almost
20 minutes, Clockwork is not agressively avant garde; parts of it
count as melodic, but I can't say I understand the nuances. It
must not have been very demanding; towards the end, while resting
and fondly looking on Orkis, she almost cracked a smile. This piece
was followed by Mozart's Sonata in A minor K 526. As in the past,
Mutter gave a rather free-wheeling interpretation of a Mozart
sonata which she had recorded. The slow movement had a
surpassingly beautiful passage in the middle which was repeated at
the end; she played it ferociously the first time, and with great
restraint the second. I don't think that was how she recorded it,
but in live performances it was easier to make out small difference.

The Respighi sonata in B was the centerpiece of the recital. The
first two movements are expansive, dramatic, colorful, and wildly
passionate; "fauvist," like Matisse, is the image that comes to
mind. The last movement is a powerhouse -- an eruption that, in
Mutter's hands, brought the audience to a standing ovation. This
composition has been extensively compared with Strauss' lone violin-
and-piano sonata, but the latter seems to me so tidy, melodic,
and small-voiced. The Respighi sonata is in contrast dense and
dark; in some way it reminds me of the Brahms 3rd sonata
instead. Mutter bestowed it with all the drama and grandeur it
deserved -- exactly the way she recorded it in 2000, only better,
if that was possible. She should play this piece more often;
it really flatters her style.

Saint-Saen's Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso was last in
the program. It is a wonderfully virtuosic showpiece, dotted
with crowd-pleasing Spanish airs. I listened to Zuckerman's
orchestral version 30 times before the recital, and it does
not have the depth of the Respighi. But the piano-accompaniment
made it fresh and exciting. Mutter breezed through it without
breaking a sweat or a horsehair in her bow; she did not even
need the trademark towel on her shoulder. She really came
off as more energetic, even youthful, than I have seen her
in some years!

The encore pieces were all taken from her Club Album: a
Tchaikovsky, an Australian song, and finally, John Williams'
"Schlinder's List" theme. For the longest time she had
leaned on Brahms' Hungarian Dances and Bach's solo violin
partitas for encores; this new type of ending only emphasized
her rejunvenation.

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