1970s–1980s Mutter's playing began to receive wider attention and she stopped attending school to devote herself full time to music. At only 13 years old, she made her public recital debut on August 23, 1976 at the
Lucerne Festival, performing works by
Tartini,
Bach,
de Falla,
Paganini, and de
Sarasate. Conductor
Herbert von Karajan heard Mutter play at the Lucerne Festival and arranged for her to perform at The
Salzburg Whitsun Festival, where she debuted with the
Berlin Philharmonic on May 29, 1977 in a performance of Mozart's
Violin Concerto No. 3. In the summer of 1977, she made her debut at the
Salzburg Festival, performing Mozart's
Violin Concerto No. 2 with the
Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. Critics praised the level of maturity in Mutter's performances, with one reviewer of
Die Welt writing, "She played it ravishingly, and above all, she did not play it at all like a child prodigy. Her technique is fully mature." At the age of 15, Mutter made her debut recording in 1978, performing Mozart's
Third and
Fifth violin concerti with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. The recording received France's prestigious
Grand Prix International du Disque the following year. In the 1980s, Mutter went on to record the
Brahms,
Beethoven,
Mendelssohn, and
Bruch violin concertos with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, all released on the
Deutsche Gramophone label. The Mendelssohn and Bruch recording won Tokyo's Record Academy Prize in 1981, with one critic from
Gramophone writing "In the Mendelssohn Mutter is even more successful. She plays with the most natural spontaneity, giving the listener a feeling of coming to the work anew." The following year Mutter made her debut at
Carnegie Hall playing Mozart's
Fifth Violin Concerto with the
Philadelphia Orchestra under
Riccardo Muti, and made her debut with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra performing
Bruch's Violin Concerto under
Seiji Ozawa in 1983. Mutter's Japanese debut was in Tokyo (1981) with the Berlin Philharmonic under Karajan, followed by her Russian debut in Moscow (1985). Three years after her debut with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1980, in which she played Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto under Claudio Abbado, Mutter was named honorary President of
Oxford University's Mozart Society. In 1985, at the age of 22, she was made an honorary fellow of the
Royal Academy of Music (London), appointed head of its faculty of international violin studies, and in 1986 became an honorary member. During the 1980s, Mutter appeared at the
Salzburg Festival five times with Herbert von Karajan. She also performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto with
Yo-Yo Ma and
Mark Zeltser under Karajan in 1978 and later recorded the concerto with the same musicians for Deutsche Grammophone. Additionally, Mutter recorded the
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the
Vienna Philharmonic and Karajan at the 1988 Salzburg Festival. Since her debut at the Festival, she has been a frequent guest, appearing more than thirty times both with orchestras and as a recitalist. Beginning in the late 1980s, Mutter expanded her repertoire and devoted herself more to contemporary works, a focus that would become a significant component of her career. In 1986, Mutter premiered
Witold Lutosławski's Chain 2, Dialogue for Violin and Orchestra, with the Zurich Collegium Musicum.
Norbert Moret composed his Violin Concert En rêve for Mutter in 1988. In 1988, she also made a grand tour of Canada and the United States, performing as a soloist with orchestras and giving solo recitals with pianist
Lambert Orkis. Mutter made her recital debuts in New York (at
Carnegie Hall), Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Montreal,
Toronto, and other cities, and also debuted with the
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. She premiered works by
Krzysztof Penderecki and
André Previn, in addition to performing classical repertoire such as
Beethoven's
Violin Concerto and violin sonatas by Beethoven,
Brahms,
Franck, and
Tartini.
1990s By the 1990s, Mutter had established herself as an international star, transitioning from
Wunderkind to mature artist The press described her as a "master of the violin" and "musician of near peerless virtuosity and unimpeachable integrity," with critics noting her glamorous image. One author of
Der Spiegel wrote in regards to Mutter's rise to fame: "In the meantime, the entire classical music world knows these tones and this musical master: Anne-Sophie Mutter, now 25, is probably the only world star made in Germany in today's instrumentalist trade and the first violinist from [Germany] who can keep up with the world's violin standard. After
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's flight of fancy, no other serious musician from Germany – gender notwithstanding – has succeeded in rising more quickly from the first floor to the penthouse of the international guild of interpreters. In her line of work she is at the top: Frau Fiddler on the roof." In the 1990s, Mutter premiered
Wolfgang Rihm's Gesungene Zeit (1992),
Sebastian Currier's Aftersong (1994) and
Krzysztof Penderecki's Violin Concert No. 2
Metamorphosen (1995). That same decade, Mutter released some of her best-selling albums, including
Carmen Fantasie with
James Levine and the
Vienna Philharmonic (1993) and
Vivaldi's
Four Seasons with Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic (recorded in 1984, published in 1994) and another Vivaldi's Four Seasons album with the
Trondheim Soloists (1999). In 1998 she played and recorded for CD and DVD the complete set of
Beethoven's Violin Sonatas (released 1999), accompanied by
Lambert Orkis; these were broadcast on television in many countries. The recording of the sonatas received a
Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance. Mutter devoted an entire year to performing all ten of Beethoven's
violin sonatas in the "Beethoven: Face to Face" tour in cities throughout North America and Europe, including additional modern pieces. Music critic
Anthony Tommasini of the
New York Times wrote on a concert of the Beethoven tour, "Ms. Mutter's playing had its trademark qualities: rich yet focused tone, striking varieties of sound, articulate yet supple rhythmic play. But her increasing work in recent years with living composers has brought a new kind of intellectual energy to her playing, for she was particularly attentive to the bold turns in this youthful music."
2000s With the turn of the century, Mutter continued supporting new music and began collaborating with composer and conductor
André Previn, who dedicated several works to Mutter. Mutter premiered a Tango Song and Dance in 2002, which Previn composed for her. Mutter also gave the first permanence and recording of Previn's
Violin Concerto with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra the same year, of which the recording became a critical success. Mutter toured with orchestras under the direction of Previn, performing his concerto and later premiering Previn's double concerto for violin and contrabass in 2007 with Roman Patkoló. Two years later, she premiered his Second Piano Trio with
Lynn Harrell and Previn and Concerto for Violin and Viola with
Yuri Bashmet. Other contemporary works dedicated to Mutter that she premiered included
Henri Dutilleux's Nocturne for violin and orchestra
Sur le même accord (2002) under
Kurt Masur conducting the
London Philharmonic Orchestra and
Sofia Gubaidulina's violin concerto (2007) under
Sir Simon Rattle with the
Berlin Philharmonic. For
Mozart's 250th Anniversary from 2005 to 2006, Mutter toured throughout Europe, North America, and Asia, including China, Japan,
Korea, and
Taiwan, performing Mozart's complete
Violin Concertos, the
Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra and complete
Piano Trios. Mutter performed with
Lambert Orkis and
André Previn as pianists. Five DVD and CD recordings containing the works performed on tour and the complete
Violin sonatas of Mozart were released. In October 2006, on French television, Mutter appeared to indicate that she would be retiring when she turned 45, in 2008. However the following month she said that her words were "misinterpreted" and that she would continue to play as long as she felt she could "bring anything new, anything important, anything different to music". To mark the bicentenary of Mendelssohn's birth, Mutter rerecorded Mendelssohn's violin concerto with Kurt Masur and the
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and his
Piano Trio No. 1 with
Lynn Harrell and André Previn in 2009. Mutter also gave live performances of the concerto in San Francisco, New York, London and Oslo.
2010s (2021)|thumb Mutter performed classical and contemporary works during the 2010s, touring Europe, North America, Asia, South America, and Australia. For her yearly tours and performances, she continued her collaborations with
Lambert Orkis and performed the major concertos of the classical repertoire. She premiered Wolfgang Rihm's "Lichtes Spiel" with the New York Philharmonic and "Dyade" with double bass player Roman Patkoló in 2010 and
Sebastian Currier's "Time Machines" with the New York Philharmonic conducted by
Alan Gilbert in 2011 to critical acclaim. In 2010 and 2011, Mutter was the Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic. In 2011, Mutter established the Mutter Virtuosi, composed of select students and graduates of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation (established 2008) that perform with Mutter. The chamber ensemble has toured multiple times throughout different continents in the 2010s, performing modern works and classics such as
Vivaldi's
Four Seasons. As part of
Deutsche Grammophon's series to introduce classical music to broader audiences, Mutter and the Mutter Virtuosi performed works by
Bach,
Vivaldi,
Gershwin and
John Williams in a night club at Berlin's venue Neue Heimat in 2015. The performance was recorded for The Club Album – Live from the Yellow Lounge. Mutter was the soloist for the Berlin Philharmonic's 2015 New Year Eve's concert under
Sir Simon Rattle. Mutter gave the world premiere of Previn's "Violin Concerto no. 2 for Violin and String Orchestra with the
Trondheim Soloists in 2012, the premier of Sebastian Currier's "Ringtone Variations" for violin and double bass in 2013, and the premiere of
John Williams' Markings for solo violin, strings and harp with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under
Andris Nelsons in 2017. In 2018, Mutter premiered Previn's The Fifth Season, Krzysztof Penderecki's Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2, and his
Duo concertante per violino e contrabbasso. In 2018, Mutter gave a concert with pianist
Lang Lang titled the Berlin Concert with the
Staatskapelle Berlin under
Manfred Honeck for the 120 Anniversary of
Deutsche Grammophon. For the anniversary, Mutter also gave concerts in
Seoul,
South Korea, and Tokyo, Japan. The following year, Mutter performed for the 20th anniversary of the
Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra with
Maxim Vengerov and
Martha Argerich. In 2019, Mutter joined
John Williams to perform Williams' works for solo violin and orchestra, titled "Across The Stars". The tour and album contained works from Williams' film scores, with such notable pieces as the
Star Wars themes, Rey and Yoda, and
Hedwig's Theme from
Harry Potter. The same year, Mutter toured Europe with the
West–Eastern Divan Orchestra, playing Beethoven's
Triple Concerto with
Daniel Barenboim and
Yo-Yo Ma. The tour included stops in
Buenos Aires and Berlin, and resulted in the release of a CD by
Deutsche Grammophon. In March 2019, Mutter premiered
Sebastian Currier's Ghost Trio with
Daniel Müller-Schott and Lambert Orkis at
Carnegie Hall. In September 2019, Mutter stopped during a performance of Beethoven's
Violin Concerto with the
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra to ask a cellphone user to stop recording. The incident received significant press coverage and refueled debates about concert cellphone etiquette.
2020-present Mutter has recently premiered several pieces that have been dedicated to her, including
Jörg Widmann's string quartet
Studie über Beethoven in Tokyo (2020),
John Williams'
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in
Tanglewood with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra (2021),
Unsuk Chin's violin duet
Gran Cadenza (2021) in
Regensburg with violinist Ye-Eun Choi and
Thomas Adès' work for violin and orchestra
Air – Homage to Sibelius (2022) at the
Lucerne Festival with the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra. Mutter's 2023 Virtuosi tour included works by Vivaldi and Bach and by
Joseph Bologne in an effort to revive the composer's legacy. In 2023, Mutter also performed chamber pieces by Beethoven, Brahms, Currier and Schuman with Lambert Orkis and Maximilians Hornung. Mutter continued to premiere Kurrier’s “Ghost Trio” and Previn’s “Nonet” in several European countries and continued performances of William’s Violin Concerto no. 2 alongside some of his film scores. In January 2024, Mutter gave the UK premiere of William’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In the spring of that year, Mutter toured East Asia with Lambert Orkis, performing works by Mozart, Respighi, Schumann and Schubert. Mutter performed core violin concertos in concert series with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Manfred Honeck, the National Danish Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic. In 2025, Mutter performed Beethoven and Tchaikovsky Trios with Yefim Bronfman and Pablo Ferrández in US and German cities. Mutter resumed the concerts series “Across the Stars” featuring various compositions by John Williams, but with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under
Vasily Petrenko. On October 25, 2025, Mutter gave the premieres of „Three Dances” for violin and orchestra by
Max Richter and "When the world was Waltzing" by John Williams in a 200th anniversary concert for Johann Strauss with the Vienna Philharmonic under Manfred Honeck at the
Vienna Musikverein. ==Repertoire==