Anne-Sophie Mutter & Pablo Ferrández - Brahms: Double Concerto & C. Schumann: Piano Trio (CD)

"Star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and cellist Pablo Ferrández, one of the most promising newcomers in classical music, are releasing a joint album with Brahms' Double Concerto and the rarely heard Piano Trio by Clara Schumann on Sony Classical on November 4, 2022. The recording will be released on CD, vinyl and digitally. For this collaboration with her protégé, cellist and Sony Classical exclusive artist Pablo Ferrández, Anne-Sophie Mutter has recorded the Concerto for Violin, Violoncello and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 102 by Johannes Brahms with the Czech Philharmonic and conductor Manfred Honeck, as well as the rare Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17 by Clara Schumann with pianist and long-time musical partner Lambert Orkis. The album will be available from Sony Classical from November 4, 2022. Cellist Pablo Ferrández, who received the 2021 Opus Klassik Award for “Young Artist of the Year” for his highly acclaimed debut album “Reflections” on Sony Classical, was a member of Anne-Sophie Mutter’s hand-picked ensemble Mutter’s Virtuosi. Anne-Sophie Mutter has undoubtedly been one of the greats of the classical music world since her early collaboration with Herbert von Karajan, with whom she recorded her first Brahm Double Concerto in 1983. In addition to her outstanding ability and high reputation, she has always been committed to promoting and supporting new generations of string players, for example in the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, which she founded to promote musically gifted musicians, including Pablo Ferrández. Both artists recorded Johannes Brahms' Double Concerto live in Prague in January 2022 with the Czech Philharmonic under Manfred Honeck, after having already performed the same work in Madrid and Oxford. The concert is a chamber music work with a symphonic effect, a stimulating mixture of musical cooperation and confrontation. In her collaboration with Pablo Ferrández, Anne-Sophie Mutter experienced a "fresh, open-minded and new" artistic partnership with a musician who, in her opinion, is "at the forefront" of the new generation of cellists. Clara Schumann, artistically inseparable from Johannes Brahms, was a female composer in a man's world and was often overlooked for a long time. "They both admired each other artistically and Johannes Brahms often asked her for advice," says Anne-Sophie Mutter. Their human and artistic relationship connected and inspired them. For the violinist, diversity also played an important role in the selection of the repertoire in order to put a composer neglected by music history in the spotlight. Clara Schumann's Piano Trio in G minor from 1846 is one of her best works - a piece full of turbulence, impressive complexity and deep longing that inspired Anne-Sophie Mutter and especially her regular piano partner Lambert Orkis to a new dimension of musical conversation. The studio recording was made in Munich and is incomparable in its focus on Clara Schumann's individual musicality. "It inspires me to have such a musical conversation with Pablo," says Anne-Sophie Mutter about her work with Pablo Ferrández. "Anne-Sophie Mutter is the ideal artist," says Pablo Ferrández. "There is always an idea behind her playing, everything happens for a reason. It is an honor not only to play and record with her, but to know her and have her as a mentor."