Twenty-four and Still Growing

Despite all my best intentions I'm afraid I've seriously neglected this blog of late. Yes, though I've heard the masses crying out for more posts and the mind is always willing, the clock and the calender simply haven't made proper allowances. In fact, I don't really have the time for a post tonight, but this news item was so good that I had to get it posted.

If you've read this blog at all then you know that I've been quite a fan of the young German violinist Julia Fischer. In the past I've said that she is probably the best of an army of very talented young violinists now appearing on CD and on the concert stage, and I even predicted that if you haven't heard of her before you almost certainly will in the future.

Well, she took an enormous step toward classical music superstardom today because it was just announced that at age 24, Julia Fischer has won the prestigious Classic FM Gramaphone 2007 Artist of the Year award. Now, some will quibble as to the importance of this or any other award, and I have to admit that this whole practice of ranking artists seems a little contrived to me, (who was better - Rembrandt or Van Gough?), but the fact that Fischer should beat out names such as Barenboim, Abbado, Gergiev and Terfel and be recognized as among the very best speaks for itself.

So, a short post and a hearty congratulations to Julia Fischer - the Classic FM Gramaphone Artist of the Year. Damn girl, that is so cool.