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.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" & Coriolan Overture
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 5 Apr 2024
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 2
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 1 Jan 2006
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 3
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 5 May 2017
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 - Borodin: Polovtsian Dances
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 7 Oct 2016
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 4
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer, Miah Persson
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 9 Mar 2009
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 6
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 11 Oct 2005
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27 & Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 8 Jun 2004
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 8 Oct 2013
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 18 May 2015
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 4 Sep 2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 4, And Other Works
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 11 Jun 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 & Suite in A Major
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 1 Jun 2010
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Overture & Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 22 Jun 2018
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorak: Symphonies Nos.8 & 9 - "From The New World"
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2001
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 1
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 1 Aug 2012
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring, Firebird Suite, Scherzo, Tango
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 1 Feb 2012
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 7
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 29 Mar 2019
Gramophone: Recording of the Month24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 & Serenade No. 2
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 11 Jun 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 11 Oct 2019
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B Flat Major & Symphony No. 6 in F Major "Pastoral"
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 1 Nov 2010
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 & Variations on a Theme by Haydn
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Classical - Released by Channel Classics on 1 Jan 2009
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo