Magyar News, 1998. szeptember-1999. augusztus (9. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1999-04-01 / 8. szám
A Conversation With By Antonio Procaccini For the first time in many years, works by contemporaries Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinsky are being performed together in concert. The two are considered to be among the most influential ethnomusicologists, i.e., composers who studied and/or used the folk music of their respective countries as source material for musical compositions. In late October 1998, Carnegie Hall audiences witnessed a musical reunion of the two composers, thanks to the Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO). Iván Fischer, the BFO's musical director, conducted both performances that featured fellow Hungarian András Schiff performing all three of Bartók's piano concertos. The Budapest Festival Orchestra was formed in 1983 by compatriots Iván Fischer and Zoltán Kocsis, a worldrenowned pianist. It quickly became one of the most successful international music ensembles after participating in leading music festivals and performing in the world's most prestigious concert halls. Martha Argerich, June Anderson, Yehudi Menuhin and many other top-ranked soloists have appeared as BFO guest artists. The orchestra has also received acclaim for its work in opera and special concerts focusing on cycles of works by Bartók, Brahms and Mahler. Although the BFO's two founders recently parted ways, Fischer remained and the orchestra continues its busy and successful worldwide performance schedule. A native of Budapest, Iván Fischer is without question one of the world's most accomplished conductors of classical music. In addition to his duties with the BFO, he is in great demand as a guest conductor with major European orchestras. During his formative years, he studied piano, violin, cello and composition at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest and later graduated from Hans Swarowsky's esteemed conducting class in Vienna. His career took off at the age of 25 when he won the BBC's Rupert Foundation Conducting Competition and, along with it, invitations to conduct the major British orchestras. Europe is only one of Fischer's many performance venues. The maestro has also conducted prestigious orchestras in the United States and Canada, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and San Francisco, Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras. His recent credits include a stint as principal guest conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1989-1996. In Photo: Suzie E. Maeder the opera world he directed the Kent Opera in England from 1984-1989, in addition to conducting at Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Bastille Opera of Paris and numerous other European opera houses. Iván Fischer is one of many musicians in his family going back to the early part of this century. He recounted the occurrences of family birthday parties entertained by orchestras consisting entirely of relatives. All were non-professional musicians, including a bank director who, when having finished his daily work, would indulge himself passionately as an amateur conductor of oratorios by Handel and Bach. According to Fischer, "This was always a music-obsessed family." The maestro's father was the first professional musician in the family, a conductor and violinist who also had significant work experience in theater. His becoming a professional musician created discord in the family. "The rest of the family thought he was crazy, because music is something you do for passion, not for money." Iván apparently picked up where his father left off in the music world. With his global renown, the BFO director has clearly eclipsed the fame attained by any of his predecessors. The maestro finds Hungarians eveiywhere he performs. "It's like a big family which is all over the world. .. [and], ..they all come to the concerts." The Iván Fischer conducting at the Liszt Ferenc Academy. (Photo: Andrea Felvégi)
