Daniel Müller-Schott is one of the most sought-after cellists in the world and can be heard on all the great international concert stages. For many years he has been enchanting audiences as an ambassador for classical music in the 21st century. The New York Times refers to his ‘intensive expressiveness’ and describes him as a ‘fearless player with technique to burn’.

Müller-Schott guests with international leading orchestras—in the US with the orchestras in New York, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Los Angeles; in Europe the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Bayrisches Staatsorchester and Münchner Philharmoniker, the Radio Orchestras from Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Leipzig and Hamburg, Copenhagen and Paris, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, the London Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Spanish National Orchestra as well as in Australia with the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and in Asia with Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan’s National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He has appeared worldwide in concert with such renowned conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Thomas Dausgaard, Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Alan Gilbert, Gustavo Gimeno, Bernard Haitink, Neeme Järvi, Karina Canellakis, Dmitrij Kitajenko, Susanna Mälkki, Andris Nelsons, Gianandrea Noseda, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Kirill Petrenko, Michael Sanderling and Krzysztof Urbański. Many years of musical collaboration linked him with Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel, Yakov Kreizberg and Sir André Previn.

In addition to performances of the great cello concertos, Daniel Müller-Schott has a special interest in discovering unknown works and extending the cello repertoire, including his own transcriptions and through cooperation with contemporary composers. Sir André Previn and Peter Ruzicka have dedicated cello concertos to him, which were premiered under the direction of the composers with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

Daniel Müller-Schott receives Opus Klassik 2020 solo recording award

Anne-Sophie Mutter, perhaps one of the best known of established current violinists, began learning the piano at five but took up the violin shortly afterwards, studying with Erna Honigberger (once a pupil of Carl Flesch). Mutter later continued her studies with Aida Stucki at the Winterthur Conservatory.

At thirteen she was invited by Herbert von Karajan to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, thus starting a fruitful collaboration; their first recording together was Mozart’s Violin Concertos Nos. 3 and 5 in 1978. Since then Mutter has become one of the most recorded of post-war violinists, with over eighty discs to her name. Whilst much of this has been of standard repertory, she has championed a number of more recent works, some written for her, including Henri Dutilleux’s Sur le même accord, Krzysztof Penderecki’s Violin Concerto No. 2 and Wolfgang Rihm’s Gesungene Zeit. In August 2007 Mutter gave the première of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Violin Concerto No. 2 ‘In tempus praesens’ and Witold Lutosławski orchestrated his Partita for her.

Mutter plays two Stradivarius violins (the ‘Emiliani’ of 1703, and the ‘Lord Dunn-Raven’ of 1710) as well as a Regazzi instrument of 2005. Having made a number of experiments in her youth she plays without a shoulder rest and wears the same design of sleeveless dress by John Galliano for most of her performances, finding this most comfortable. Like several other artists before her, Mutter has strong humanitarian interests, especially in alleviating medical and social problems, and often gives benefit concerts.

In her recordings Mutter is a strong-willed and passionate player, with a notable depth and sensuousness of sound. This results in strong, muscular performances of classical repertoire such as Mozart’s K. 218 Concerto (1981) (although the no-compromise post-Romantic sound world may strike some listeners as stylistically anachronistic), and a carefully considered 1988 Tchaikovsky Concerto (which testifies to the deep artistic sympathies shared with Karajan) in a steady, but full-blooded interpretation. Mutter’s playing of such established repertoire is thought of by many as beyond reproach, but one should not ignore her outstanding performances of more recent music. Her Penderecki Violin Concerto No. 2 (1997) is captivating in its white-hot intensity from the very first note, whilst Stravinsky’s Concerto (1988)—often played in a rather laconic manner—is articulated with an almost desperate passion. Arguably, Lutosławski’s Partita, especially in this 1988 version orchestrated especially for Mutter, is rather saccharine (Lutosławski’s stark, ascetic structures working better perhaps with the percussive tones of the piano); but Rihm’s Gesungene Zeit (1992) is performed with an excellent sense of architecture and direction, whilst Berg’s seminal Concerto (also 1992) has great poignancy. In all this music Mutter’s playing has much more to it than a pretty and pleasing tone: there is a sense of profound understanding, and a deeply-felt emotional connection, running through the playing—which is technically superlative. A lighter work, perhaps showing Mutter’s less serious side, is Previn’s Tango, Song and Dance (2003) which she ‘dances’ beautifully with the composer (her then husband) at the piano.

Mutter’s place in the glittering pantheon of players is assured, but it is her contribution to and advocacy of twentieth-century music that is perhaps her most extraordinary achievement.

© Naxos Rights International Ltd. — David Milsom (A–Z of String Players, Naxos 8.558081-84)