Frankly not the reference version

Let's start with the disc back in its context! This is a live recording made at the Salzburg Festival 1988. The live is never perfect. 1988 is the full CD boom; Karajan is nearing retirement (80 years, he died the following year), big techie and a bit megalomaniac, has made up his mind to re-record all the great repertoire with the latest digital technology to deliver to posterity a technically flawless discography. Anne-Sophie Mutter was probably chosen because it is the young filly from the stable Karajan at the time, but it is not his favorite repertoire. His art is too mastered the violin to indulge in romantic outbursts. All this probably explains the lack of inspiration of this record.
Technically, the record is impeccable. We expected no less torque-Karajan Deutsche Grammophon.
Artistically, it is far, far away, the reference version of the magic trio Perlman-Leinsdorf-Boston Symphony in 1967, and also close to the beautiful interpretation of the Stern-Ormandy Philadelphia-trio in 1958. The Vienna Philharmonic deploys its beautiful inimitable sounds, but his string desks are one notch below those of the Boston Symphony of the big time. Above all, the dialogue between soloist and orchestra is too civilized.