Iván Fischer
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Iván Fischer (born January 20, 1951 in Budapest ) is a Hungarian conductor and composer .
Origin and education
Iván Fischer comes - like his older brother Ádám - from a Jewish family of musicians. Her father Sandor was a conductor and translator. The maternal grandparents were victims of the Holocaust in Hungary .
Fischer first took piano and violin lessons and then switched to the cello . After studying composition in Budapest, he continued his training at the Vienna Music Academy , where he took the conducting class of Hans Swarowsky . Fischer also regularly attended Leonard Bernstein's Mahler concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic . Another important influence was Nikolaus Harnoncourt , for whom Fischer worked for two semesters as an assistant at the Salzburg Mozarteum .
First successes
In 1976, at the age of 25, Fischer won the Rupert Foundation's conducting competition in London . He was then invited by many English orchestras . I.a. Fischer was a regular guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra , which he conducted on a world tour in 1982 . In 1983, Fischer made his US debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra .
Budapest Festival Orchestra
In 1983 Fischer founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO) with the pianist Zoltán Kocsis . Initially the orchestra operated on a part-time basis and gave only a limited number of concerts. However, since 1992 the BFO has been a full-time orchestra, with concerts around 30 weeks per year. The BFO and Fischer implemented unorthodox ideas: individual members of the orchestra design parts of the program, the “Cocoa concerts” are aimed at small children, the “Titok concerts” (Titok means “secret” or “surprise”) have none pre-announced program. In the "one forint concerts", Fischer speaks to the audience; in other concerts, listeners sit between the orchestral musicians. Open-air concerts in Budapest sometimes attract tens of thousands of listeners. Fischer founded various music festivals, including a summer festival for baroque music in Budapest and the Budapest Mahler Festival.
To this day (as of January 2019), Fischer is the artistic director of the BFO. In 2008, the Budapest Festival Orchestra was ranked 9th among the world's best orchestras in a poll by the British music magazine Gramophone .
Konzerthausorchester Berlin
In 2011, Fischer was appointed music director of the Berlin Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt and chief conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin for the 2012/13 season . He moved his family's residence to Berlin, although he continued to lead the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Fischer cemented the reputation of the Konzerthausorchester as one of the leading ensembles in Berlin - alongside the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Staatskapelle Berlin - and experimented with performance practices similar to those in Budapest, e.g. B. surprise and request concerts, composers marathons, and the concert series "Mittendrin".
In 2016, Fischer turned down an offer by the Konzerthausorchester to become chief conductor for life. Instead, he announced his departure after the 2017/18 season in order to gain more time to compose. The orchestra then made him honorary conductor, a title that it had previously only bestowed on long-time director Kurt Sanderling . Fischer's successor was Christoph Eschenbach , who had already succeeded him in 2010 with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC .
Other conductors
As a guest, Fischer conducted internationally important orchestras such as B. the Munich Philharmonic , the New York Philharmonic , the Cleveland Orchestra , the Orchester de Paris , the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment . His interpretations of Bach , Mozart , Brahms , Mahler and Bartók are particularly well known . With the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam and the Berlin Philharmonic , Fischer has a friendship between artists and regular collaboration.
As an opera conductor , Fischer appeared in a Mozart cycle at the Vienna State Opera from 1989–91 . He has also directed opera productions in Zurich , London , Paris , Brussels , Stockholm and Budapest. In 2018 Fischer founded a new opera festival in Vicenza, Italy .
Other positions:
- 1979–82 musical director of the Royal Northern Sinfonia
- 1984–89 musical director of Kent Opera
- 1989–96 first guest conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
- 2000–03 chief conductor of the Lyon Opera
- 2006–09 Principal Guest Conductor with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC
In 2011 Iván Fischer was the artist of the »Zeitinsel« concert series Béla Bartók at the Dortmund Concert Hall , in 2014 artist of the »Zeitinsel« concert series Antonín Dvořák.
Further musical activities, humanitarian engagement
Together with the composer's granddaughter, Fischer founded the Hungarian Gustav Mahler Society and is the patron of the British Kodály Academy.
At the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival 2007 - which this year had the country focus on Hungary - he studied Beethoven's 6th symphony with the orchestra academy and the music to Béla Bartók's dance pantomime The Wood-Carved Prince . Fischer also made guest appearances with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and, together with the violinists József Lendvay and his father József "Csócsi" Lendvay, as well as the cymbal player Oszkár Ökrös, gave an insight into the influences of Roma music on symphonic works. In addition to Liszt and Brahms , Sarasate was also on the program.
Since 2014, Fischer has been playing regularly in Hungarian synagogues with musicians from the Budapest Festival Orchestra - abandoned and still in use - in order to maintain awareness of Jewish life and traditions in Hungary. On December 1, 2016, Fischer, the BFO, and the conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim made music in the Great Synagogue on Dohány Street in Budapest.
In recent times Fischer has appeared more frequently as a composer. His works are mostly written for medium-sized ensembles of vocalists and instrumentalists. The texts are mainly in Yiddish in order to keep the language alive, according to Fischer. I.a. Fischer composed the opera “The Red Heifer” and a German-Yiddish cantata.
In addition to his musical achievements, Fischer became known for his humanitarian commitment - u. a. for refugees - which repeatedly brought him into opposition to the government of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán . In addition to Hungarian, Fischer speaks fluent German, Dutch and English.
Awards
- 1976: 1st prize in the conducting competition of the Rupert Foundation in London
- Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum in Davos
- Chevalier dans l ' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture
- Gold medal of the Hungarian President
- 2005: Honorary Citizen of Budapest
- 2006: Kossuth Prize of Hungary
Discography
The following list does not claim to be complete:
| released | Pieces | Contributors | Record label / No. | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 |
|
|
Hungaroton HCD 12528 | CD |
| 1984 | Schubert, Symphony no.9 |
|
Hungaroton HCD 12722 | CD |
| 1985 | Brahms: Hungarian Dances |
|
Hungaroton HCD 12571 | CD |
| 1985 | Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Major |
|
London 411677 | CD |
| 1985 | Mendelssohn: Symphony no.3 |
|
Hungaroton HCD 12660 | CD |
| 1987 | Schubert
|
|
Hungaraton HCD 12842 | CD |
| 1990 | Bartók:
|
|
Hungaroton HCD 31167 | CD |
| 1990 | Richard Strauss
|
|
Hungaroton HCD 12899 | CD |
| 1990 | Stravinsky
|
|
Hungaroton HCD 31095 | CD |
| 1994 | Schubert: Symphonies nos. 3 & 8 |
|
Hungaroton HCD 12616 | CD |
| 1994 |
|
|
Hungaroton HCD 12868 | CD |
| 1994 | Kodály
|
|
Hungaroton HCD 31324 | CD |
| 1995 | Mendelssohn
|
|
Hungaroton HCD 12414 | CD |
| 1995 | Mozart
|
|
Hungaroton HCD 12235 | CD |
| 1995 | Mozart: Symphonies in E-flat Major
|
|
Hungaraton HCD 31093 | CD |
| 1995 | Bartók: Violin Concertos nos. 1 & 2 |
|
Berlin Classics BC 0011342 | CD |
| 1996 |
|
|
Hungarton-Philips HCD 31362 | |
| 1996 | Donizetti: Don Pasquale |
|
Hungarton HCD 12416-17 | 2 CDs |
| 1997 | Bartók: Piano Concertos nos. 1-3 |
|
Teldec 0630131582 | CD |
| 1997 | Liszt: Faust Symphony |
|
Philips 002894544602 | CD |
| 1997 | Bartók
|
|
Philips 002894544292 | CD |
| 1998 | Bartók
|
|
Philips 0028945443027 | CD |
| 1998 | Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies |
|
Philips 0028945657028 | CD |
| 1999 | Bartók
|
|
Philips 028945657523 | CD |
| 1999 | Brahms: Hungarian Dances |
|
Philips 0028946258927 | CD |
| 2000 | Dvořák
|
|
Philips 028946464724 | CD |
| 2001 |
|
|
Philips 0028946453124 | CD |
| 2001 |
|
|
Hungaroton HCD 32038 | CD |
| 2002 | Dvořák
|
|
Philips 0028947060123 | Hybrid SACD |
| 2002 | Bartók: The Piano Concertos |
|
Warner Classics | CD |
| 2002 | Dvořák
|
|
Philips 0028947061724 | Hybrid SACD |
| 2003 | Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle |
|
Philips 028947063322 | Hybrid SACD |
| 2004 | Rachmaninov
|
|
Channel Classics 21604 | Hybrid SACD |
| 2004 | Tchaikovsky
|
|
Channel Classics 21704 | Hybrid SACD |
| 2005 | Mahler: Symphony no.6 |
|
Channel Classics 22905 | Hybrid SACD |
| 2006 | Bartók: Orchestral Works |
|
Philips 028947576846 | 3 CDs |
| 2006 | Mahler: Symphony no.2 |
|
Channel Classics 23506 | Hybrid-SACD, 2-CDs |
| 2006 |
|
|
Philips 028947573012 | 4 CDs |
| 2010 |
Beethoven: Symphonies 4 & 6 |
|
Channel 2461447 | 1 SACD |
| 2012 |
Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D major |
|
Channel Classics CCS33112 | 2 SACD |
| 2012 |
Stravinsky: Sacre du Printemps, Firebird, Tango / Scherzo |
|
Channel Classics CCS32112 | 1 SACD |
| 2012 | Bach: St. Matthew Passion |
|
Arthaus Musik (Naxos Germany GmbH) | 2 Blu-ray DVD |
| 2012 |
Brahms, Dvořák: Hungarian Dances / Slavonic Dances |
|
Decca Classics 478 40228 | CD |
Web links
- Literature by and about Iván Fischer in the catalog of the German National Library
- Iván Fischer at theInternet Movie Database(English)
- Biography on the homepage of the Budapest Festival Orchestra (English)
- Biography medici.tv (English)
- Interview with KlassikInfo (2009)
- Interview with the classic portal Classicpoint (2016)
- Photos by photographer Klaus Rudolph
- Vicenza Opera Festival , accessed October 25, 2019
Individual evidence
- ^ Iván Fischer and Ádám Fischer. In: Bálint András Varga: From Boulanger to Stockhausen: Interviews and a Memoir . University of Rochester Press, Rochester NY 2013, ISBN 978-1-58046-439-0 , pp. 107-115 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
- ↑ Iván Fischer: Mahler's beauty always hurts In: Limelight, August 24, 2017.
- ↑ Eleonore Büning: Even a fool of God cannot walk over water . FAZ.net, December 6, 2015
- ^ The World's Greatest Orchestras. gramophone.co.uk
- ^ Hungarian Wind in Berlin In: Zeit Online , February 22, 2011
- ↑ Iván Fischer is leaving the Konzerthausorchester in 2018 . In: Berliner Morgenpost , October 18, 2016
- ↑ Conductor Iván Fischer starts a new kind of opera festival in Vicenza In: Hannoversche Allgemeine , April 12, 2018
- ↑ Program of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival from 28./29. July 2007, Iván Fischer as conductor of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra.
- ^ Concert series Synagogue Concerts . In: BFZ.hu
- ↑ Interivew: Iván Fischer In: The Jewish Chronicle , January 18, 2011
- ↑ How the composer Iván Fischer investigates a false statement . In: Berliner Morgenpost , June 27, 2014
- ^ German-Yiddish cantata . Youtube Channel Iván Fischer , May 15, 2013
- ↑ Concert for refugees in Berlin: 'Welcome to our center' . In: Deutsche Welle (dw.com) , March 1, 2014.
- ↑ Alex Ross: Notes of Dissent: in Hungary, Iván Fischer is Shaking up Music and Politics . In: New Yorker Magazine , June 2, 2014.
- ↑ 'Hungary's art is still colorful and flourishing' . In: Deutschlandfunk.de , April 9, 2018.
- ↑ Report by Playbill Arts
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fischer, Iván |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Hungarian conductor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 20, 1951 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Budapest |