When violinist JULIA FISCHER heard that she was named Artist of the Year in the 2007 Classic FM Gramophone Awards, the humble, high-caliber German violinist drank champagne with a few friends, but she didn't let the win go to her head. "I was very happy, but it's not that I would have been upset if I hadn't won it," she notes. "[The win] affects the amount of interview requests, but not that much my career, at least so far. Maybe you should ask again in one year?"

Fischer's 2007 and 2006 releases on the PentaTone label—Brahms Violin & Double Concertos and Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto—have received high praise while Grammophone calls Fischer's performances "filled with heart and soul, as [her] violin plumbs the emotional depths without once sounding lachrymose. It is the mark of a performer whose time has come."

According to the majority of the 14 million listeners of classical-music radio stations worldwide who voted, 24-year-old Fischer's time is now. She was placed above some serious competition, including Italian conductor Claudio Abbado and Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón, who took second and third places, respectively. Other candidates included cellist Steven Isserlis, pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, baritone Bryn Terfel, and conductor Valery Gergiev. Though Fischer was first in the overall standings, US voters placed her second under mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato.

Photo Credit: MITCH JENKINS

Among other tours and performances at the time of the interview, Fischer was preparing for her debut as a pianist with the Grieg Piano Concerto on New Year's Day in Frankfurt, Germany, and January 4 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

• 1