Anne-Sophie Mutter

Mutter was born in the German town of Rheinfelden, which lies some 15 km East of Basel on the northern bank of the High Rhine river, across which lies the Swiss town of the same name. She began playing the piano at the age of five, and shortly afterwards took up the violin. Inspired by a recording of violinists Yehudi Menuhin and Wilhelm Furtwängler, she began studying with Erna Honigberger, a pupil of Carl Flesch. After Honigberger\'s death she continued her studies with Aida Stucki at the Winterthur Conservatory.\n', 'Mutter\'s playing began to receive attention and she stopped attending school to devote herself full time to music. Conductor Herbert von Karajan arranged for her to play with the Berlin Philharmonic. Only 13 years old at the time, she made her public debut on stage in 1976 at the Lucerne Festival, where she played Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major. In 1977, she p…