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\u201cEbullient, infectious energy\u201c<\/strong><\/p>\n In recognition of her long-standing work on behalf of young musicians and her championing of new works, the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter has received the 2023 Ruhr Piano Festival Prize. Its director, Franz Xaver Ohnesorg, presented her with the award after a concert by the internationally celebrated artist on Friday, June 2, at the Philharmonie in Essen, during which Anne-Sophie Mutter joined pianist Lambert Orkis and cellist Maximilian Hornung in performing works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann and Sebastian Currier\u2019s \u201cGhost Trio\u201d, which the composer dedicated to her in 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n Ohnesorg praised the violinist as an outstanding initiator of new music who has given world premieres of 31 compositions during the 47 years of her career, including several works by Andr\u00e9 Previn which she co-commissioned with the Ruhr Piano Festival. Ohnesorg also praised her faithfulness to the Ruhr Piano Festival, where this was her 15th performance since her debut in Gelsenkirchen in 1995. Furthermore, in the spring of 2022, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Franz Xaver Ohnesorg jointly took the initiative to present a benefit concert for Ukrainian children, during which she performed Beethoven\u2019s Triple Concerto.<\/p>\n The Ruhr Piano Festival Prize includes a scholarship which the winner can award to a pianist of their choice: Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lambert Orkis chose the 32-year-old Madalina-Claudia Danila, a Romanian pianist living in the USA. She will give her debut concert at the 2024 Ruhr Piano Festival.<\/p>\n In a laudition honouring Anne-Sophie Mutter, the composer J\u00f6rg Widmann praised the \u201cunique career\u201d of an artist who has been giving concerts \u201cfor such a long time at the spectacularly highest level\u201d. Mutter\u2019s championing of contemporary music has \u201clong been legend, but is by no means to be taken for granted\u201d. He added that her unflagging curiosity, the will to make music in the moment, also illuminates great works of the past anew and differently every time. Anne-Sophie Mutter is always seeking out the challenge of novelty: \u201cThe most important composers have written for her, creating outstanding works which will remain in the repertoire.\u201d Widmann quoted Anne-Sophie Mutter, who has spoken openly about her own \u201cvulnerability and sense of exposure vis-\u00e0-vis the demands and challenges the new works make of her \u2013 as an artist, violinist and human being \u2013 many of which seem insuperable at first\u201d. The violinist, who celebrates her 60th birthday in June, calls this \u201ca way of remaining alive artistically\u201d.<\/p>\n The Ruhr Piano Festival also honours the artist\u2019s long-standing work on behalf of young musicians with the Prize. For many years, her Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation has been supporting highly talented string players financially, artistically, by purchasing valuable instruments and by commissioning new compositions.<\/p>\n Anne-Sophie Mutter called the Prize, which is embodied by a print by G\u00fcnther Uecker, a \u201cstimulus for me\u201d. She emphasized the extraordinary importance of the Ruhr Piano Festival for the region, which is visible not least in its education efforts: the Festival manages in exemplary fashion \u201cto integrate children through music in Duisburg-Marxloh, to lend them a voice, to encounter them respectfully as human beings and give them opportunities\u201d. This achievement \u201cshould set us aflame and also demonstrate to politicians the power music develops, and what a great gift it is\u201d. At the end of the evening, Anne-Sophie Mutter dedicated the German premiere of \u201cThe Long Good-Bye\u201d by the film composer John Williams to the Festival\u2019s departing director Franz Xaver Ohnesorg, also thanking her enthusiastic audience with a trio arrangement of a melody from Williams\u2019 score for \u201cSchindler\u2019s List\u201d.<\/p>\n Photo: Peter Wieler<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cEbullient, infectious energy\u201c In recognition of her long-standing work on behalf of young musicians and her championing of new works, the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter has received the 2023 Ruhr Piano […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n