Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), Lambert Orkis (piano)

National Concert Hall

Sonata for Violin and Piano in G (K.301) Mozart Violin Sonata in A (D.574) - > Schubert Violin Sonata No.1 in A. Op.13 - > Faure Sonata in B flat (K.378) - > Mozart

The Sonatas by Mozart and Schubert were written in their early 20s so it is not unexpected that they should have a certain air of insouciance, wheras the Faure, written in his early 30s, speaks in a much more experienced way. Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin) and Lambert Orkis (piano) with playing of exquisite delicacy captured that blend of innocuousness and civilisation that is most marked in Mozart's Sonata in G but is also to be found in Schubert's Sonata in A.

Mutter can give every note an individual colour without in any way changing its importance in the scheme of things; the tonal values of the whole picture are perfectly balanced. Orkis's piano-playing is equally sensitive, finding in the Steinway the subtleties of sound associated with the fortepiano but without the sometimes unwelcome harshness of the earlier instrument.

I was very impressed by the unforced intimacy of Tuesday's performance in the NCH. Though the hall was packed, the players preserved the quality of a private performance such as might have been held for a small audience in a great house of the past. Faure's Sonata in A, by far the most demonstrative of the evening, benefited from the intimacy of the occasion, its passionate outpourings all the more persuasive for being scaled down. The extreme refinement of the playing in passages of quiet intensity threw into high relief the emotional climaxes without any need of extra emphasis.

Mozart's Sonata in B flat, beneath its surface charm, touched the deepest springs. Mutter and Orkis allowed it to speak without disguise, unless beauty is a disguise.