She told me in 2008 that at the time she was invited to play for Karajan she had no idea how he might fit into her career. Mutter's career shifted into high gear almost immediately after she met conductor Herbert Von Karajan, for whom she first auditioned in 1977. The 40 discs, in paper sleeves reproduced with their original covers, contain a fascinating trove of music, from Bach to Gubaidulina, from the 11-year-old Mutter playing Prokofiev to last year's release of the Brahms Violin Sonatas. Never mind that it's all housed in several clumsy layers of plastic shells reminiscent, in their translucent red, yellow and green, of a Habitrail. It collects all of her DG recordings plus two discs of rarities and an impressive 288-page hardcover book stuffed with photographs of the attractive violinist, some of which can be viewed at the top of this page. The set celebrates the 35th anniversary of Mutter's stage debut at age 13 in 1976. I'm told she'll make an appearance on Letterman on the 30th, and then there's her 40-CD retrospective box set, ASM 35: The Complete Musician, which is released today by her long-standing record company, Deutsche Grammophon. Last week, she opened the Pittsburgh Symphony's season, and next week she'll kick things off for the Boston Symphony Orchestra by performing and conducting all five Mozart violin concertos over two nights. On the 13th she released a new CD of four world premieres written especially for her. Even for a musician as acclaimed as violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, September is stacking up to be a pretty big month.

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