Fischer plays these notorious finger-breakers as though they were amongst the most treasured pieces in the repertoire...she dons the various rhetorical disguises Paganini assumes...with engaging aplomb...Fischer's ability to impart a convincing emotional narrative to each piece is hard to overlook - it makes for compelling listening.

Her spot-on intonation and even tone-production throughout is a marvel...She sees each caprice not as a display vehicle but as representing a different mood...She succeeds admirably.

She finds a quality of inward communing that is most appealing, so you never get a sense of “display for display’s sake” as one Caprice succeeds another: No 6 has extraordinary spectral beauty, Nos 20 and 22 a poetic mystique.

Julia Fischer certainly has the technical equipment for this challenging music...Her technique, however, is not of the showy kind; the particular strength of these performances is the way each piece emerges as an example of romantic tone-painting rather than just a virtuoso showpiece.

...it is something of a surprise to find [Fischer] recording Paganini’s notoriously showy Caprices. Less surprising is Fischer’s serious treatment of these fiendishly difficult pieces as music of genuine stature, rooted in and inspired by the golden age of violin-playing (and making), the high baroque.

German superstar Julia Fischer gives a giddily virtuosic account of the 24 caprices for solo violin, making a strong case for them as proper music rather than mere ear-popping, fiendishly difficult fiddler's sparklers.

Fischer finds captivating solutions to the conundrum of bringing expression and character to music of hair-raising difficulty...[she] brings to this tricky music a wealth of bravura and imagination.