German classical violinist says beauty is only skin deep.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Enrique Fernandez

``I can't deal with doing sexy pictures for a CD and then have people come to concerts to look at you instead of listening to you,'' says German violinist Julia Fischer, speaking on the phone from a hotel room in her current American tour.

Fischer, who is 21 and radiantly beautiful, has been fighting the music business on this issue since she was 17. ``My management said I couldn't go on stage without wearing make up,'' she recalls angrily. ``I said `I'm 17. If I want to wear make-up I will and if I don't, I won't.' '' _ and she didn't.

For years, Fischer had offer upon offer to record a CD. Just recently, she released her first. ``I couldn't stand the talk about what designer would make my dress. What the classical music business is trying to do is to make this a pop music business in terms of how we look when we go on stage. Classical music is not entertainment. That is not its first use, which is to educate your emotions and your soul. Until this gets back to people who run the biz we have problems. It's time for musicians to do something about it,'' she goes on.

Fischer played her first concert when she was 8. ``The first time people would buy tickets to go to hear me play,'' she says, suppressing a giggle. By the age of 11, she was playing at competitions. At 12, she became a full-time violinist. Today, she plays about 20 concerts a year.