In a year crowded with new Mozart releases it's probably fitting that a Mozart CD would win the award this year. Of course, readers of this blog (?) know my obvious bias towards violinists and singers so it should be expected that my CDOTY recipient will be in one of those two categories. Not that weren't many fine pianists and cellists and orchestras putting out new releases in 2006, but, frankly, who cares?
With that in mind, they were really only a couple of CD's that really caught my attention. The first is Anne-Sophie Mutter's amazing 4 CD release of Mozart's violin sonata's. You know, at her worst Mutter can be a little smothering at times, but at her best, which is most often the case, Mutter just may be our best violinist of the current era. She certainly makes a claim to that title with this release which is full of spirit and depth and suprising warmth. Most years this would have been a shoo-in for CDOTY honors except for another Mozart CD that came out by a much younger but equally gifted violinist.
Julia Fischer has been well known among the hardcore classical audience for quite some time now, but it took a while for the news to reach the Luddite's like me who inhabit the musical world's outer fringes. I had heard of her before, but since she records for the relatively small and independent Pentatone label her music is rarely heard on the radio and cannot be found on Itunes or Rhapsody at all. Fortunately, the buzz did reach me and I finally bought one of her CD's, and these past few months not a week has gone past when I haven't listened to it at least once or twice.
"W.A. Mozart Violin Concertos Nos. 1, 2 and 5" is actually a companion to Fischer's earlier 2005 release of the Violin Concertos Nos. 3 and 4, and really the two CD's should be taken as a whole. The critics have described Fischer as "phenomenal" and "breathtaking", but I think I would describe the playing on this CD as spirited and insightful and full of character - perfectly suited to these youthful Mozart pieces.
What really grabs me as a listener, though, is the effortless ease with she plays. She has been quoted as saying that she thinks too many of today's violinists play nervous, and there is certainly none of that in her playing. It's almost like a gentle breeze has blown in and lifted the notes off her strings, and she can be dramatic or warm or lively or deeply introspective all with same untroubled fluency. Even if you've heard these pieces a thousand times before you'll be amazed by these performances. It's almost like hearing Mozart with new ears. More importantly, though, is her genuine affection for this music. You can hear in it in her playing and that's what makes this CD so infectious.
Fischer's credentials are eqally impressive. She started playing the violin at age 3, and by age 13 was playing with the legendary Yehudi Menuhin. She began teaching masterclasses at age 15, and at age 23 received a professorship at the Hochschule fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Maim in Frankfurt, Germany. She is also an accomplished pianist who wonders how a violinist can play a violin sonata without learning the piano accompaniment too. Which all leads me to wonder if this is going to be another phenom who burns herself out before she ever sees their thirtieth birthday.
Somehow I don't think so. First of all, she is no phenom. She is young, yes, but I rarely hear of anyone talk of her as being a "young" violinist. Despite her age she is already a polished and mature musician, not only in her playing but in her decision-making as well. All of her choices seem to be for challenging, quality projects, and maybe some of the credit should go to people like Christoph Eschenbach and Lorin Maazel who have reportedly taken her under their wing, or others like Yakov Kreizburg who challenged her to write her own cadenzas for the Mozart Concertos.
To me, staying challenged is the antidote to flaming out. Taking on unchallenging projects that are far below your abilities, or more likley, being content to reach a certain level and advance no farther is a sure sign of burnout in my book. It's too bad so many young talents never reach their full potential, but I hear the music business is a rough way to make a living.
Be that as it may, Julia Fischer shows no sign of following that path. In fact, she seems careful to go in the opposite direction and that is a very good sign. Along with her 2006 Mozart CD and her 2006 Tchaikovsky CD, she has also teamed up with Daniel Mueller-Schott and Jonathan Gilad, two very talented and promising newcomers, on a 2006 release of the Mendelssohn Piano Trios Nos. 1 and 2. Clearly, her interest is in working with only the best musicians who can take her to the next level.
So that's this year's CDOTY. You probably won't find it in your local Barnes and Noble, so unless you have a great record store like the Bay Area's "The Musical Offering", you'll have to get it online. And while you're placing your order why not pick up Fischer's 2005 Mozart Concerto release and Anne-Sophie Mutter's Mozart Sonata's as well. You'll have spent a few bucks but you'll have probably the best Mozart Violin recordings currently out there.
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