Annie Fischer was an artist who communicated her love and reverence of music directly to her audience with total sincerity, conviction, and a lack of artifice. A true musician, Fischer was always absorbed in the music she was playing,

never posturing for the gallery. Like Alfred Cortot, Fischer had a reputation for playing wrong notes, but, as with Cortot, these inaccuracies did not detract from the overall musical impression of a performance. It did not matter that she may have sacrificed technical accuracy for the spirit,

character and meaning of the music. Of her three appearances at Ambassador Auditorium, the two recitals presented here come from late in her career, the second being recorded when Fischer was 74 years of age. The October 1982 concert finds Fischer particularly on top form.