Four-time Grammy-winner Anne Sophie Mutter — who London’s The Times crowned the “undisputed queen of violin-playing” — returns this weekend (Sept. 28-29) to perform Beethoven’s Concerto in D Major with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
The concerto will be a part of the CSO’s extended Beethoven Revolution project, which delves into the famed composer’s music in celebration of his 250th birthday. This 2019-2020 season, another landmark birthday will be recognized: CSO turns 125 in 2020, having been founded in 1895.
With the late conductor Herbert Von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Mutter made a recording of the Beethoven composition that CSO music director Louis Langrée calls “among the best interpretations of this concerto.” At the time of the recording, she was only a teenager. Since then, Mutter’s music career has secured icon status.
Those attending the Mutter concerts at Over-the-Rhine’s Music Hall can also check out the traveling exhibition BTHVN on Tour. On display in Music Hall’s grand foyer Sept. 27-Oct. 1, the show includes artifacts from Beethoven-Haus Bonn, a memorial site and museum in Germany. Artifacts include the ear horn that the composer used when his hearing became impaired, reproductions (including of one of his own violins) and interactive multimedia displays that give a glimpse into Beethoven’s life.
Eun Sun Kim, guest conductor, will helm this weekend’s concerts. A part of ArtsWave citywide “Power of Her” celebration of women, the concerts will kick off with a CSO world premiere of Gabriella Smith’s “f(x) = sin2x -1/x”, co-commissioned by Classical Movements. Prior to the concert, you can hear Smith discuss her new composition on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. Concerts begin at 8 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Tickets for the concerts start at $14. Call the CSO Box Office at 513-381-3300 to purchase or visit cincinnatisymphony.org.
This article appears in Sep 18-25, 2019.
