Budapest Festival Orchestra
The Budapest Festival Orchestra is far from being the ad hoc summer ensemble its name might suggest. With a varied repertory, an international touring schedule, and a top-flight set of soloists annually, the orchestra was named one of the top ten in the world by Gramophone magazine.
The Budapest Festival Orchestra was formed in 1983 by conductor Iván Fischer and pianist Zoltán Kocsis, drawing its members from the ranks of the most talented young musicians in Hungary; Fischer has remained the chief conductor since the orchestra's inception. The group garnered critical acclaim from the start, and by 1992, it was considered a permanent fixture of orchestral music in Budapest, giving concerts at the Béla Bartók National Auditorium as well as abroad. In 2000, the Budapest Festival Orchestra inaugurated full orchestral seasons. It has been backed by its own foundation, supported by the city of Budapest. Away from home, the orchestra has appeared at such major halls as the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Carnegie Hall in New York, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and appears at major summer festivals. It has attracted to Budapest such internationally renowned soloists as Gidon Kremer, Yehudi Menuhin, and Georg Solti, who until his death was the group's permanent guest conductor. The group has often participated in operatic productions, and its repertory ranges from the Baroque to contemporary music. In the latter category, it has often favored the works of Hungarian composers. The orchestra has also often performed and recorded the music of Mahler, and Fischer founded the Budapest Mahlerfest.
Beginning in the 1990s, the Budapest Festival Orchestra has been much in demand among recording companies. The group has recorded for Philips, Decca, and most often, Channel Classics, where it issued a recording of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde in 2020. The Budapest Festival Orchestra maintains an orchestral academy for recent university graduates.
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Bartók: The Wooden Prince; Dance Suite
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 28.08.1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms : Hungarian Dances
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 20.05.1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Götterdämmerung, Meistersinger von Nürnberg (excerpts), Siegfried - Idyll
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Channel Classics am 01.05.2013
Gramophone Editor's ChoiceGramophone: Recording of the Month24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Piano Concertos//Debussy: Fantaisie for Piano & Orchestra
Zoltán Kocsis, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 02.07.1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Instrumental Music
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Channel Classics am 01.11.2008
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorak: Slavonic Dances
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.2001
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944 "Great" & 5 German Dances, D. 97
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Channel Classics am 14.05.1985
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Orchestral Music
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anton Dvorák : Legends - Miniatures - Nocturne - Prague Waltzes
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 03.10.2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Hungarian Dances / Dvorak: Slavonic Dances
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Budapest Festival Orchestra: Dvorak Orchestral Works
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 20.05.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Liszt : 6 Hungarian Rhapsodies
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anton Dvorák : Slavonic Dances Opp.46 & 72
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.2001
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in B Minor Op. 104 & Symphonic Variations for Orchestra Op. 78
Pieter Wispelwey, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Channel Classics am 01.01.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Jupiter Symphony - Symphony in C Major, K. 338 - Minuet, K. 409
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hungaroton am 15.07.1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 / Dohnányi: Variations On A Nursery Song
Zoltán Kocsis, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (The) / Petrushka
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hungaroton am 15.07.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 19, 26 and 39
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hungaroton am 15.07.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C Major, "Great"
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hungaroton am 14.05.1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 8, "Unfinished"
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hungaroton am 20.05.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Dohnanyi: Variations On A Nursery Theme
Zoltán Kocsis, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Instrumentalmusik - Erschienen bei Hungaroton am 01.01.1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo