22 August 2006

MUNICH - Two of the top stars of classical music, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, 43, and composer-pianist Andre Previn, 77, have divorced, Mutter's office said Friday in the German city of Munich.

It confirmed a report in the newspaper Bild that the four-year marriage was at an end, but gave no details. It was believed the marriage was dissolved three months ago. Mutter, who is German, had married Previn, 34 years her senior, in New York.

Mutter, a former child prodigy, is to mark Wednesday her 30 years as a professional by giving a concert in Lucerne, Switzerland. She has two children from her first marriage to a Munich lawyer, Detlef Wunderlich, who died of cancer in 1995 after only six years wed.

Previn, who also conducts, had been married four times previously, including to actress Mia Farrow. A US citizen, he was born in Germany and fled with his family in 1938 from the Nazi persecution of Jews.

DPA

Subject: German news