The very first notes of this extraordinary performance show how thoughtfully Anne-Sophie Mutter has approached the work. Sibelius s marking for the solo violin is dolce ed espressivo, which for most violinists would mean with vibrato. But Mutter plays senza vibrato and achieves a hauntingly expressive effect over the muted pianissimo oscillations of the orchestral violins. Happily, she sustains this high level of engagement with the score through the entire account, playing the taxing solo part with riveting intensity, making every note count, producing a gloriously rich and varied tone, and giving the listener a memorable musical experience in the process. The effect of all this on Andrй Previn and the Staatskapelle Dresden, to paraphrase Mark Twain, appears to have been prompt and electric. They give a spectacular reading of the score, one notable for both its sonorous depth and its sense of atmosphere.

To capture the brilliant partnership between violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianist Lambert Orkis, one only has to look to their riveting recording of Beethoven s Violin Sonatas. Over the course of those four CDs, the pair revealed themselves to be a lively, sympathetic team. The same description could be used for this single-CD recital, featuring four very different 20th-century compositions from four very different composers. The spiky nature and high notes of Prokofiev s Sonata stand in direct contrast with George Crumb s Four Nocturnes, a fragmented but short sonic journey filled with subtle harmonics and stark, hallucinogenic movements. Moving to Webern s Four Pieces, Mutter and Orkis literally define the essence of collaboration

This is certainly one of the great collections of modern music, and it s much to Mutter s credit that she plays this music. She s not just a babe, though that s frequently how she s packaged on CD covers. She can really play, with tremendous fire, for instance, on the great Bartok 2d, or subtlety and nuance on the Berg. The two Lutoslawski s call for rapid changes in style, perhaps Mutter s greatest strength. The lesser known works on this set are really worth it, too--the Moret is dazzling, the Rihm mysterious and beautiful.

This is the stuff from which magic is made: Ludwig van Beethoven s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73--known as the Emperor Concerto, heroic and powerful--performed by one of our most distinctive pianists, Hйlиne Grimaud.

Andreas Staier (born September 13, 1955 in Gцttingen) is a German pianist and harpsichordist. Staier studied piano and harpsichord in the Hochschule fьr Musik in Hanover, with Kurt Bauer and Erika Haase for piano and from Lajos Rovatkay for harpsichord, and also in Amsterdam. From 1983 until 1986 he was the harpsichord soloist for the ensemble Musica Antiqua Kцln. As of 1986 he has been an itinerant fortepiano soloist, an accompanist for lieder and piano soloist for the ensemble Les Adieux. Between 1987 and 1996 he was Dozent for Cembalo at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.