Mutter Live- The Club Album

EricL

Junior Member
This is a wonderful new two lp set from Deutsche Grammophon. Mutter here gives a live performance of classical and popular standards in a Berlin Nightclub called Neue Heimat.
The selections vary from The Four Seasons and Bach Concerto for two Violins to Gershwin, Debussy, Copland and others.
Mutter is joined on the popular pieces by her pianist Lambert Orkis and on the classical by members of her youth ensemble, all fine musicians. There are many standouts here: both The Vivaldi and the Bach piece are well done with a very lively up front sound. I particularly loved Gershwin's Three Preludes, Debussy's Golliwogg Cakewalk, John William's Theme from Schindler's List and a rousing and delightful version of Benjamin's Jamaican Rumba.

You get a real feeling here of being in a club. You certainly feel closer to the artists than in a concert hall but the sound is clear and palpable and not strident. The audience applause was so lifelike, it nearly had me jumping out of my seat.

Both lps were flat, centered, quiet and beautifully pressed in the EU. It's available at Amazon for $30 with shipping and at other internet retailers. You get over 60 minutes of music. Also includes a voucher for downloading digital. This is probably a digital recording. It says "mastered from original sources".

An interesting aside: the nightclub, jammed with people, was apparently very hot, not good for the Strad's wood. Since Mutter says she sweats a lot, they applied a thin protective coat of varnish to the Strad where it touches her bare skin to prevent the original varnish from being damaged. Afterwards, the Strad had to be sent for maintenance work anyway.
 
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