Discovered at 13 years old, virtuoso violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter has been dealing in equal parts talent and glamour since her early years on the international concert circuit. Her now-defunct 2002 marriage to much-older star conductor and pianist André Previn only served to heighten her fame. At the age of 44, Mutter—who is in town to perform Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 77, with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra—is at the top of her game and rumoured to command some of the highest fees in the classical music biz. Here, the Grammy–winning musician on Brahms, keeping things fresh and that famous German moodiness.

How old were you when you first started playing the violin?

When I was five, my birthday wish was violin lessons, but my parents first made sure that I studied the piano. About half a year later, I was able to persuade them that the violin was my voice. I might have been influenced by the music they used to listen to. Their wedding gift to each other was a recording of Yehudi Menuhin playing the Beethoven and Mendelssohn concertos.

How many times have you played Brahms’ Violin Concerto?

I have no idea! But the funny thing is that when you live for decades with a piece, you get closer to the details. It’s wonderful to visit an old friend and still be fascinated. But it never becomes easy—it’s as difficult as it was 25 years ago.

Do you think the concerto provides some insight into what Brahms the man was like?

Brahms was rather depressed with life, with very dark moods. That’s probably a German quality: if you look at our literature over the centuries, we have a love of tragedy. And that’s definitely something you find in the concerto.

Would you have liked him?

I would have adored him, just because he was a great composer. People who have the ability to create something that is of singular importance are admirable—even if they are pigs as human beings.

Do you play any other kind of music besides classical?

I would love to play jazz, but I’m just not gifted for it—I’m a total zero at improvising. I was married to one of the greatest living jazz musicians, André Previn, and he always said I could do it. I was very happy that at least he didn’t play the fiddle.

Anne-Sophie Mutter mounts the stage at Roy Thomson Hall on Sept. 28.