Greg Stepanich

Young violinist gets star treatment

The German violinist Julia Fischer has been getting an increasing amount of notice lately. This month, the BBC Music Magazine named the 22-year-old Munich-born fiddler its Newcomer of the Year.

Local concertgoers will be able to see her next year, in a recital with a pianist to be named later (the program says Milana Chernyavska, but the Web site, which was updated last week, doesn't list her) at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. No program has been announced for the March 7 concert yet, but Fischer is one of several violinists making an appearance in the 40th anniversary season of the Concert Association of Florida.

Judy Drucker's group also has scheduled Maxim Vengerov (recital, Oct. 16); Robert McDuffie (with the Hamburg Symphony on Feb. 6); Itzhak Perlman (a recital sometime around March at the new Miami Performing Arts Center); and Gil Shaham (doing the Elgar concerto Feb. 12 with the Chicago Symphony under David Zinman).

Fischer's Web site hasn't changed much since I last saw it, but I'm listening again to one of the sound clips: A gentle, lovely version of the Sarabande from the Partita No. 2 of Bach, part of her CD of all the Bach sonatas and partitas. It's these performances that so excited the judges at the BBC Music Magazine:

There are many recordings of Bach's works for solo violin but rarely do they reach such breathtaking heights of musicianship as this one. Julia Fischer is an incredible technician and soulful musician who doesn't let an ounce of ego come between the music and the listener.

Now I'm listening to the Fuga from the Third Sonata, and it's strong playing, though perhaps there's something a shade careful about it. Still, there's little doubt from the evidence of this clip that she has the chops for these difficult masterworks. One other very nice thing about this performance is its steady line — the music's got direction, and it's been well thought-out.

The Concert Association of Florida's complete schedule is available here for its Miami and Lauderdale venues. I'll note that some leading and rising pianists are coming: Evgeny Kissin, Olga Kern, Emmanuel Ax, Jonathan Biss and Paavali Jumppanen, and in addition to the Chicago and Hamburg orchestras, the Boston Pops Esplanade (under Keith Lockhart) and Atlanta orchestras will be appearing. Robert Spano will lead the Atlanta in a program that includes Christopher Theofanidis’ Rainbow Body (a piece I’m not too crazy about on record, but maybe it’s better live).

And then there's the currently hot Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon (Nov. 28), the soprano Angela Gheorgiu (March 23) and two concert performances of Verdi's Il Trovatore (Dec. 9 and 12) with Salvatore Licitra and Maria Guleghina.

In any case, I'm planning to go hear Fischer. Of the three young violinists I mentioned in a blog last year, two — Janine Jansen and Nicola Benedetti — have appeared here this year in concert. Fischer was the third I mentioned, and now she’ll be here, too. (And Benedetti's on the cover of the May issue of the BBC Music Magazine, as you can see here.)

A lot of the musical world is paying attention to the careers of these young players. Playing the violin has turned into much more of a glamorous profession than it used to be, and there are a number of terrific fiddlers now competing for your attention.

So far, it looks as though there's plenty of room for all of them to make a decent mark on the world of music.