4 SPECTRUM DECEMBER 3-4, 2011 The Sydney Morning Herald The Sydney Morning Herald DECEMBER 3-4, 2011 SPECTRUM 5

INTERVIEW

Richard Glover does not aim to win audiences there was conductor , through charm. ‘‘I’m not in the who threw her into the deep end of mood to smile while I’m playing; spiky, modern music by commis- I’m there to transmit the music,’’ sioning a from iconic ‘I’m not in the mood to she says. Polish composer Witold Lutoslaw- Mutter also vehemently rejects ski, sparking her ongoing engage- what she sees as misguided ment with music of the 20th and attempts at popularising classical 21st centuries. Book your passage to travel the music through gimmicks, slick mar- Along the way, there was also her smile while I’m playing; keting and dumbing down. first marriage, to Karajan’s lawyer, ‘‘We don’t have to downsize it, we Detlef Wunderlich, 30 years her don’t have to make a comic strip out senior. (Wunderlich died of cancer world without leaving home of Shakespeare, necessarily. Music in 1996, leaving her with two young is out there in all its beauty and all children.) For a while, she was ytravelplansforthis evidence that Australian birds are its complexity. There are pieces associated with Russian cellist summer involve a trip to teaching each other to kill cane I’m there to transmit which are more fun to listen to and Mstislav Rostropovich, then in his M the small Lancashire town toads without ingesting the poison. others that are more complex and 70s, with whom she recorded and of Accrington, staying with a family Yet theycan’t quite do whatwe can: there is a time for all of these pieces performed much of her chamber of quite mad Pentecostal learn from people we have never in our lives.’’ music repertoire. In 2002, she mar- evangelists, followed by a long stay met; spend time with people from She stops and thinks, anxious to ried pianist and composer Andre in Newark, New Jersey. My only another century; enjoy a sense of a the music.’ press home her point. Previn. He was 73, she was 39. They challenge: surviving the polio place we have never visited. ‘‘My son is a passionate have since divorced but remain epidemic that is sweeping that city’s Sometimes a place visited in a player. He will not become a musi- close. She will play two new works sweltering schools and playgrounds. book stays in the memory more cian but he loves it. He used to adore by Previn next year and calls him Ihaveorganisedlocaltourguides. vividly than a place visited only Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov her ‘‘in-house composer’’. For the first, it will be novelist physically. I am hazy on the Hong when he was a teenager and now he Now, as she approaches 50, Mut- Jeanette Winterson, who will no Kong I visited in 1989 and the Anne-Sophie Mutter falls in love with Mozart. It seems to ter is very much her own woman. doubt tell me her own story of Hobart of 2001 but I can easily touch a string in his heart and his She is the executive figurehead of a lesbianism and loss of faith as she direct you around the London of soul, and it is a period where he small industry that, as she explains, shows me around. For the second, I 1974, which I toured on the arm of needs that. encompasses performing and will be relying on Philip Roth, who I Hanif Kureishi, or Levin’s By HARRIET CUNNINGHAM recording, regular benefit perform- have met up with most Christmases snowbound farm in , as ances and a charitable foundation for the past decade or two. mapped by Leo Tolstoy. he soloist glides onto the repertoire ever written’’, as she Regazzi, to choose from, is quaint. Prize at six and was given an exemp- ‘Once you are in that that mentors young string players, Roth willbe taking meto the These places glow in the mind in stage like a queen. Her hair describes it – on a dusty student But her cute and cosy answers, tion from school to concentrate on language of music, you all of which she oversees herself. Newark of 1944, when polio killed awaynotalwaysmatchedbyplaces is perfect, her make-up is fiddle, when she has two Stradi- which reveal next to nothing about music. By nine she was a full-time stu- She has also taken the initiative off many of the city’s children. visited physically. perfect and her figure is varius violins and a custom-made her personal life, speak volumes dent at the Winterthur Conserva- are totally immersed.’ musically, commissioning some of In Winterson’s case, it will be Occasionally, I am still overcome Tperfectly enclosed in a floor-length, contemporary violin by luthier-to- about her extraordinary career: this torium under the tuition of Aida classical music’s most admired Accrington of the late 1960s and the by the opportunity of reading; the strapless sheath dress of orange silk. the-stars, is someone who has been in the Stucki. It was Stucki who introduced composers to write substantial, rather odd family that adopted her Every time you pick pure good fortune of it. Given a She carries her priceless instrument Roberto spotlight since she was six. Mutter to the conductor of the ‘‘WhatIamsayingisthatmusicis tough new works for her, which she as a baby. I will need no passport for up a story, it leaves computer or a well-stocked with the casual familiarity of a regal The Anne-Sophie Mutter Philharmonic, maestro Herbert von so complex that as you are growing tours widely. In the past three years, the trip, no travel injections and will bookshelf, you could be sitting with orb and sceptre. All that is missing is story starts back in Rhein- Karajan. Mutter was 13. up as a teenager, you will find a she has also stepped up to the podi- face no danger of industrial action something behind. Plato within a few minutes of the crown. felden, at the south-west Was it terrifying to be standing on language which you can connect to, um, leading orchestras such as the from Qantas. reading this sentence. Just the two Anne-Sophie Mutter has been tip of Germany, where she the stage of the Berlin Philharmonie alanguagewhichissoirresistibly London Philharmonic and the Every reader knows about the of you, as intimate as that sounds. CULTURE the reigning Queen of the Violin for was born in 1963. Her Concert Hall playing Bach for one of fascinating and touching that you Boston Symphony Orchestra ‘‘from strange time-travelling ability of there opened up a world of ideas, Or tramping the Hindu Kush with 35 years. Ever since her interna- parents were journalists, the world’s most famous – infamous, can’t escape. the fiddle’’, as she puts it. books. The local library, we realised characters and stories. Enthusiastic Eric Newby. Or driving through tional debut at the Lucerne Festival musical but not musi- indeed – conductors? ‘‘Once you are in that language of Small wonder she does not have early, was the cheapest travel agent readers might remember the same middle America with Anne Tyler. aged just 13, she has been a house- cally educated. Never- ‘‘Absolutely! It was so terrifying that music, you are totally immersed. time to practise every day. Luckily in town. feeling from their own early visits to Anonymous is partly annoying hold name in Germany and a theless, by the age of five when I was invited in 1976 I actually And that’s what makes music such for her, the technical demands of So why is all this so baffling to the the library. because it is secretly about social worldwide classical music phe- Mutter had already didn’t accept his invitation. I went on an eternally and universally pre- playing her instrument seem to be makers of the new film Anonymous? Then, most likely, Shakespeare class. How could someone so nomenon. She made her first developed a ‘‘burning vacation first. And I did hope that cious language.’’ the least of her worries. Maybe you have read about the joined a group of travelling players. brilliant come from a father who recording for the prestigious wish to play the fiddle’’. his office would forget and not This fiercely held belief has ‘‘I have never been a musician movie itself, or perhaps attempts by They presented traditional stories, was a mere tradesman? Deutsche Grammophon with the It was soon clear that re-invite me.’’ informed her entire life. The photos who believed or needed hour-long Sony Pictures to place propaganda the future playwright perhaps More annoying is that it is a film Berlin Philharmonic at 15 and has hers was an extraor- They did not forget. In from her early years, playing her drilling sessions. [You work out] fin- for the film in American classrooms. suggesting changes. The plays, and about the written word that seems been with the company ever since. dinary talent. She December 1976, Mutter was first public concert, with the Swiss gerings and the logic of your hand The film claims that Shakespeare did the experience of performing them, unaware of the liberating and They have just released a limited- won the on her way to her Berlin audi- Winterthur Stadtorchester, at nine, movement more by thinking about not write the plays of Shakespeare, left their own residue of knowledge. transforming powers of that same edition, 40-CD boxed set of her National tion with ‘‘absolutely no show a moon-faced child with it than stupid repeating mechan- principally because he never This is how books and plays work: written word. It repackages the age- recordings titled ASM35. Music hopes’’.She was so convinced golden curls and solemn eyes. isms. I was taught at a very early travelled outside Britain. How could every time you pick up a story, it old distrust of ‘‘book learning’’, with In spite of her lofty she would fail that she felt no Pictures from her Karajan-Berlin stage that it is more about reason- he, it argues, have known so much leaves something behind. abitofclassistabusethrownin. status, when she nerves, nothing. Philharmonic days feature a plump ing, more about looking at a piece of about European cities, their history Shakespeare’s genius remains The film’s makers might not talks on the ‘‘I just went on stage and teenager in sensible knits in deep music and envisioning it in your and their culture? The Earl of Oxford impenetrable and mysterious — understand the power of literature phone from played and was ready to go home. conversation with a man 50 years inner ear.’’ travelled widely in Europe, so he but not the method he used to and storytelling but Shakespeare her home in Then I bumped into [Karajan] her senior. Her swanlike transfor- So whether you listen to her must have written the plays. learn things. understood it — and so does every Berlin she is leaving the hall and I remember mation into the svelte, blonde immaculate recordings of the great This is not only a spectacularly Anonymous trivialises what used teenager who ever opened a book at pains to him saying that he was very bombshell who drives a Porsche, violin or see her perform- dumb argument — the Earl of Oxford to be called ‘‘book learning’’ — our and became lost in a rush of stress how much looking forward to col- has cover-girl photos and wears ing, svelte and spectacular, be died before the last dozen plays ability to access information second sensations; feelings of escape, of ordinary she laborating with me next Chanel has been coincidental rather assured she is not just turning on were written — it is also deeply anti- hand. How could you know about not being alone, of being is: a single year in Salzburg. than instrumental in her phenome- the charm and churning out the intellectual. It ignores the power of Venice if you have not been there? somewhere else, of being someone mum who jugg- ‘‘The earth stood still.’’ nal success. notes. Anne-Sophie Mutter is giving literature while pretending to Amillionbookreadersshoutback: else. A journey away from self and les life and work Except that for Mutter, Nevertheless, the combination of you a piece of her mind. celebrate it. Let’s say it out loud: ‘‘By reading about it!’’ into an empathy that real travel just like the rest nothing stands still for long. talent, intellect and looks has Shakespeare knew things because This is one of humanity’s central matches — but only sometimes. of us. Forget the Her first Berlin encounter proved irresistible to a string of ASM35: The Complete Musician is he read about them — in books and skills; an attribute that separates us It may be true that Shakespeare image of a was the start of an intense older men who have shaped this out now. Mutter plays with the in plays. He went to a decent school from the other animals. Animals did not travel. He did not need to; he tormented artist creative partnership with exceptional artist. Sydney Symphony at the Opera in Stratford and the books he found communicate, of course: there is had literature. spending hours a Karajan. With him she recor- First, there was Karajan. Then House on March 30 and 31. day devoted to her ded most of the great violin craft. She doesn’t even concertos, starting with practise every day. Mozart, and working through ‘‘I don’t know if I Beethoven, Brahms, Mendels- must,’’ she says. sohn and Tchaikovsky. HISTORIC HOUSES TRUST ‘‘Maybe I should. But I ‘‘The period between being WWW.HHT.NET.AU don’t. I can’t. I am a single an instinctive musician and BACK TO THE BEACH mother of two children – becoming an aware musician, although almost grown up areasoningmusician,isavery –butstillmylifeisso important one and has to hap- SURF CITY SIBELLA COURT ON CHRISTMAS CRAFT diverse. I have a foundation pen early in your teens,’’ Mut- Return to the beaches of the HOUSE Decorate the Vaucluse House in aid of musicians world- ter says. ‘‘Karajan taught me to 50s, 60s and 70s to see how Join interior stylist Sibella Christmas tree and make wide and my benefit work find the common thread that Sydney’s love affair with surfi ng Court for an exclusive evening traditional decorations. and so many other things, runs through a score, to think left an indelible mark on this viewing of the sumptuous including what a family needs. the music through to its logical Sat 10 & Sun 11 Dec, 1pm–3pm beach-crazed city. House exhibition. ‘‘Even if I would love to, it conclusion and impose a sense of VAUCLUSE HOUSE would be impossible to prac- direction on it. Karajan taught me See vintage boards, movies, Wed 7 Dec, 5.45pm–8pm WENTWORTH ROAD, VAUCLUSE tise every day.’’ not simply to juxtapose notes in magazines, clothes, everyday Bookings essential CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT When I admit that my own long, overarching paragraphs surf wares and treasures. TICKETS.HHT.NET.AU violin has been crying in the but to place them in the service Daily 9.30am–5pm MUSEUM OF SYDNEY Bring your family and your corner for quite some time she of the musical idea.’’ CNR BRIDGE & PHILLIP STS festive spirit for a night of gushes, ‘‘Awww ... I can play on It is Mutter’s unswerving MUSEUM OF SYDNEY traditional carols. CNR BRIDGE & PHILLIP STS it when I’m in Sydney! Maybe quest for the ‘‘musical idea’’ Sat 10 Dec, 6pm–9.30pm not for the concert but just to that has put off some of her FREE ENTRY make it happy...’’ critics, who find her stage ELIZABETH FARM The idea of her playing presence sullen, even 70 ALICE ST, ROSEHILL Beethoven’s Violin Concerto – arrogant. But, unlike ‘‘the most complex, the most some other best-selling philosophical piece of violin violin soloists, Mutter Kurranulla Wahines, 1966. Photograph © Bob Weeks