Julia Fischer

Artist in Residence 2017-18

It sounds so simple: “Aged four years she received her first violin. At thirteen she began to perform in the public. At nineteen she made her debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall. She has been a star ever since.” This is how the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung summarized the meteoric career path of violinist Julia Fischer, who will be the Wiener Symphoniker’s Artist in Residence for the 2017–2018 season. This brief sketch of the various periods in the life of this German musician obviously omits her many other successes and awards -she has won practically every significant prize in classical music, from a Gramophone Award to an ECHO, and was appointed Germany’s youngest professor in 2006. It presents the image of a child prodigy for whom success has merely fallen into her lap, thanks to extraordinary talent. Yet the depth, precision and virtuosity of her performances and recordings are the result of exceptional discipline, her constant willingness to work, learn, further refine, and make great sacrifices for her art. “I am hooked on music,” she once said.

Her work ethic, the need to grasp works from different perspectives, to approach them intellectually, technically and not merely intuitively, are values she shares with Philippe Jordan, the Wiener Symphoniker’s Music Director. He anticipates intense collaboration with her in the coming season: “It is a joy to work with her, especially since we learn so much from her in the process.”

The focal point of Julia Fischer’s residency with the Wiener Symphoniker will be three classics of the violin repertoire, as well as an evening of chamber music in which the public can get to know this versatile artist as a pianist. Under the direction of Philippe Jordan, Julia Fischer will perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, the composer’s last work which is widely praised as his finest concertante piece. Brahms’ Violin Concerto, conducted by Lahav Shani, the Wiener Symphoniker’s Principal Guest Conductor, is on the programme for a guest performance in her native city of Munich. She will also tour with the Wiener Symphoniker in performances of Schumann’s contemplative Violin Concerto, once again under the direction of Philippe Jordan.

Julia Fischer (c) Felix Broede
Wiener Konzerthaus, Great Hall
Jordan, Fischer / Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Brahms
HABE Quartett Wien
Wiener Konzerthaus, Mozart Hall
Fischer, Jordan, HABE Quartett Wien / Schubert, Bruch, Dvořák
Wiener Konzerthaus, Great Hall
Jordan, Fischer, Rett / Beethoven, Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Mahler
München, Philharmonie am Gasteig
Shani, Fischer / Brahms, Prokofiev
Musikverein Wien, Great Hall
Jordan, Fischer / Einem, R. Schumann, Dvořák
Musikverein Wien, Great Hall
Jordan, Fischer / Einem, Schumann, Dvořák
Konzertournee philharmonie_koeln_c_peter_grosch
Köln, Philharmonie
Jordan, Fischer / Schumann, Dvořák
musical_theater_basel_geschnitten
Musical Theater Basel
Jordan, Fischer / Schumann, Dvořák