Iván Fischer
One of the most prominent Hungarian conductors of his generation,
Ivan Fischer has established a reputation in both Hungarian and
Baroque music. His interpretations of works by Liszt, Bartók, and
Kodály have achieved international acclaim, and his readings of
Hungarian-inspired works, like the Brahms Hungarian Dances (in
Fischer's own orchestration), have also received high praise. Yet
Fischer's choice of repertory is fairly broad, taking in works by
Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, Wagner, Debussy,
Rachmaninov, Ravel, and many others out of the Hungarian sphere. In
the Baroque realm Fischer has garnered international plaudits for
his J.S. Bach interpretations: the 2006 Budapest Festival
performances of the Mass in B minor (BWV 232) and March 2008
concerts with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw of the St. Matthew
Passion were both unqualified successes. Fischer has conducted some
of the world's leading orchestras and led many opera performances
at major venues, like the Vienna State Opera, where his Mozart
productions have received much acclaim. Fischer has made numerous
recordings over the years for various labels, including Hungaraton,
Philips, Decca, Warner Classics, Sony, and many others. Ivan
Fischer was born in Budapest, Hungary, on January 20, 1951. His
brother, Adam, is also a renowned conductor. In his youth Ivan
studied piano, violin, and cello, though when he enrolled at the
Bela Bartók Conservatory in Budapest, it was for study of the cello
and conducting. Fischer took further lessons in conducting, first
in Vienna with Hans Swarowsky (1971-1974), then in Salzburg with
Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1975), who instructed him in Baroque music
interpretation. After Fischer's first prize in conducting at the
1976 Rupert Foundation Competition in London, he appeared regularly
in England conducting major orchestras, including the London and
BBC Symphony Orchestras. He also made his debut in 1976 at the
Zurich Opera. 1983 was another pivotal year for Fischer: he both
made his American debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and
founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra, an ensemble for which he
still serves as music director. From 1988 Fischer served six
seasons as guest conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In
1995 he signed on to an exclusive contract with the Philips label,
but then began recording for Channel Classics in 2004. From
2000-2003 Fischer was music director of the National Opera of Lyon.
In the fall of 2008 he took the podium as music director of the
National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, serving through the
2009-2010 season. From there, he went on to conduct the
Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Similar artists
Albums
19
albums sorted by Most acclaimed
$18.00
$11.99
Classical - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
5 de Diapason -
Gramophone Record of the Month -
Gramophone Editor's Choice -
Hi-Res Audio
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonies - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Diapason d'or -
Exceptional sound -
Hi-Res Audio
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Diapason d'or -
Hi-Res Audio
$18.00
$11.99
Theatre Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
4F de Télérama
With one of the very best orchestras in the world, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, one of today’s most fascinating conductor, Iván Fischer, offers one of the most beautiful recent interpretations of Mendelssohn’s integral A Midsummer Night's Dream. In other words: first the Overture, the phenomenal stroke of genius of a seventeen-year-old – one can only wonder where he discovered all of these orchestral inventions, as in 1826, templates were still rare and Berlioz had yet to enter the musical scene. Afterwards, the remaining pieces were composed sixteen years later for the theatrical presentation of Shakespeare’s play with musical interludes: thirteen very diverse pieces, ranging from the fabulous Scherzo − a masterpiece of finesse and orchestral invention – to delicious singing moments, as well as a pre-Mahler funeral march (reminiscent of Frère Jacques from Mahler’s Symphony No. 1), the overly well-known wedding march, the grotesque dance, and many more. There is little doubt that this is, if not Mendelssohn’s greatest masterpiece, at least one of his absolute pinnacle works. Presented here in a truly irresistible interpretation. © SM/Qobuz
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Hi-Res Audio
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Hi-Res Audio
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
5 de Diapason
$18.00
$11.99
Classical - Released May 20, 2015 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Gramophone Editor's Choice
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Hi-Res Audio
Best known for performing music by modern Hungarian composers such as Bartók and Kódaly, and also for his numerous Mozart recordings in the 1990s, Iván Fischer takes a surprising turn in his repertoire by recording Mahler's Symphony No. 6 in A minor, "Tragic," with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, a bold undertaking for any maestro, but one for which he is well-prepared. Fischer has performed Mahler live on many occasions, and has devoted considerable time to studying the music before committing an interpretation to disc, so his 2005 Channel Classics release cannot be called careless or hastily planned. This symphony may not be as difficult to interpret and perform as are others of Mahler's gargantuan essays, but because expectations are high among devotees, Fischer has a tough job pleasing the cognoscenti. (Curiously, many obsessive Mahlerians have a marked preference for this work, possibly because it is the most coherent and powerful of the purely instrumental symphonies. Fischer's performance can be enjoyed as one of the best sounding to come along in years -- the nuances in the brass and percussion are especially marvelous -- and it can be taken as one of the most reasoned and thoughtful interpretations as well. Fischer aims for clarity and balance, and gets a transparent reading from the BFO that reveals every note. Yet a real feeling for Mahler's exaggerated emotional world seems to be lacking, and when the music should be wildly hysterical, appallingly grotesque, and running headlong toward catastrophe, Fischer's version keeps safely back from the edge of the abyss, dusts itself off, and reminds us that it is, after all, only a symphony, not the end of the world. Alas, the great recordings of the Symphony No. 6 actually do sound like the end of the world, and can almost create physical sensations of heartache and terror. This recording, however well it sounds and despite its many interesting features, has no such power, and is much less gripping than it should have been.
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Hi-Res Audio
Gioachino Rossini is most readily associated with opera overtures than opera -- to whom he was a major contributor -- and to some extent with sacred choral music and piano literature. Perhaps least of all he is recognized as a composer of instrumental and chamber music; while he did not produce an inconsiderable amount in these areas, much of his symphonies, concertante-styled works, and chamber music is early and simply cannot keep their pride of place in comparison with his far mightier operas. Nevertheless, Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra have found much to admire in this neglected area of Rossini's efforts, and have recorded the Super Audio CD Gioacchino Rossini: Instrumental Music for Channel Classics. It includes two opera overtures, from La Scala di Seta and Semiramide, the first of his six String Sonatas in G major, two sets of variations, and a Serenata for rather odd combinations of instruments and finally a fanfare for four horns. The recording quality is strikingly immediate and forward, and the playing crisp and very professional. However, there is a rather bland, formal, and conservative feeling to most of it; the explosive excitement that kicks the disc off with the Overture to La Scala di Seta doesn't take hold and most of the rest comes off like a set of rather polite and uninteresting set pieces. There is a little peak of interest when the Andante, e Tema con Variazioni begins, owing to soloist Ákos Ács' lovely clarinet tone and the unanimity of the wind doublings, though once the piece gets rolling the same sense of ennui returns. It is not Rossini's music that's the issue here; certainly the string sonatas have been recorded as a set numerous times, perhaps most successfully by I Musici. The problem is that while Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra achieve great precision and discipline in this music, they lack inspiration; tempi are sluggish and the sparkle one usually encounters in Rossini's music is reduced to a dull glint. While the basic idea of putting together a program of Rossini's purely instrumental compositions -- and therefore providing an alternative to the mountains of CDs devoted to his opera overtures -- is a good one, as a vehicle for that, Channel Classics' Super Audio CD Gioacchino Rossini: Instrumental Music is simply out of gas.
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Hi-Res Audio
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
Diapason d'or
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released March 1, 2019 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
$18.00
$11.99
Classical - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
Fans of Gustav Mahler's joyous Symphony No. 4 in G major will relish this buoyant performance by Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, featuring soprano Miah Persson, for it is wholly in keeping with the light tone and merry spirit of the score and is as delightful as any other recording on the market. Along with the Second and Third symphonies, this is one of the so-called Wunderhorn symphonies because of its radiant setting of the German poem, "Das himmlische Leben" in the Finale, and because of the incorporation of related themes from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn. It expresses the youthful energy and magical sweetness of the first period in Mahler's symphonic style and is the culmination of this charming phase, before the onset of darker things in the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh symphonies. Fischer and his musicians are in a light and playful mood, and their reading is cheerful, energetic, and irresistibly gemütlich in its warmth and happiness. Some listeners may quibble over Fischer's seemingly casual use of rubato, which in spots can seem a little too arbitrary, but on the whole this remains a well-balanced and spirited performance, and the slight changes of tempo serve to give the symphony a gentle Viennese flavor that seems indispensable. The DSD multi-channel sound on this SACD is stunning in its clarity, wide in its dimensions, and vibrant in its tone colors, so there is much to rejoice over in this sublime recording.
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
$18.00
$11.99
Symphonic Music - Released September 10, 2018 | Channel Classics Records
Hi-Res
Booklet
$12.99
Classical - Released November 3, 1997 | Decca Music Group Ltd.
