Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Iván Fischer

On the final leg of their North American tour, the Budapest Festival Orchestra’s Mahler proves a a transformative experience within the intimate setting of Toronto’s Koerner Hall. 

Joined by violinist Maxim Vengerov, the Hungarian orchestra, under Music Director Iván Fischer, is in top form in a program of three highly contrasting pieces. 

Iván Fischer and Alina Ibragimova transform familiar works into a vivid experience. From Beethoven’s Violin Concerto to Strauss’ Josephs Legende, the orchestra dazzles with colour, energy and cinematic intensity.

Iván Fischer's reworking of his 2017 production of Don Giovanni is musically capable, but dramatically unconvincing.

The evening starts with life-affirming Beethoven – and then, the Budapest Festival Orchestra demonstrate just how good native Hungarians can be in Bartók’s chiller. 

As part of the Concertgebouw's ambitious Mahler Festival, Christiane Karg, Anna Lucia Richter and the Netherlands Radio Choir join the Budapest Festival Orchestra for the Resurrection Symphony. 

Story time with Uncle Iván as the BFO plays music from the ballet Cinderella to crown an all-Prokofiev evening. 

The Budapest Festival Orchestra travel up the Danube, bringing Brahms back to Vienna with affectionate, passionate performances of the Violin Concerto and the Third Symphony. 

Under Iván Fischer's direction, Mahler's First Symphony is notable more for bombastic passion than subtle artistry.

At the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Iván Fischer's Mahler with the Staatskapelle Berlin huffs and puffs, but doesn't fully convince. 

Iván Fischer and the BFO, together with Sir András Schiff and Anna-Lena Ebert, remember Ligeti and take Bartók to Parnassus, where they give an electrifying performance of the Eroica.

Iván Fischer brings his Budapest band to the BBC Proms in an evening of many surprises, with a convincing Schumann Piano Concerto from Sir András Schiff.

Fischer and the BFO's virtuosic musicians take the audience through the gamut of human emotions, but not always as a complete unit.

Ernő Dohnányi's Symphonic Minutes made its first appearance on a Philharmonic subscription program since 1940, followed by a stirring account of Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto with Sir András Schiff.

The Lucerne Festival Orchestra excels in a concert of works by youthful composers, with Rafał Blechacz playing Chopin. 

Iván Fischer mixes things up for Schubert's “Great C major” Symphony with an unusual seating arrangement. 

Iván Fischer conducts a mini Stravinsky residency at London's Southbank Centre, featuring six works that encompass a number of the chameleon composer's styles. 

In a patchwork assembly of German Romantic and French impressionistic works, the chief interest in the Budapest Festival Orchestra's latest programme was the appearance of star violist Tabea Zimmermann in pieces by Schumann and Kurtág.

Conducted by Iván Fischer, a strong cast delivers an entertaining performance of Monteverdi's opera in a production that amuses, but does not quite thrill.

A program of Beethoven and Mahler from the Budapest Festival Orchestra celebrated the beauty and terror of the natural world.

The tiniest orchestral details were discernible with tremendous clarity. 

After its Covid-19 “Quarantine soirées”, the Budapest Festival Orchestra celebrates the end of lockdown by taking on a two-concert international tour!

The players of the Budapest Festival Orchestra once again proved themselves to be a remarkably cohesive ensemble.

Two great Hungarians – Iván Fischer and Sir András Schiff – together with the fabulous Budapest Festival Orchestra give a masterclass in musicianship.

The Hungarian conductor is a late replacement for a satisfying mixed programme in which pianist Anna Vinnitskaya makes a blistering debut. 

Iván Fischer’s take on Monteverdi’s opera offers a radical rewriting within the trappings of a traditional staging.

Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra go out on a limb for a second night at the Hollywood Bowl. 

In a program devoted to Béla Bartók, the visitors from Hungary conveyed both a distinct uniqueness of their heritage as well as a possibility of music as a tool for communication and understanding.

The Konzerthaus Berlin devotes a six-day festival to a single composer under a single conductor. 

A trip down the Danube to old Budapest, with Iván Fischer taking the music of Brahms and Liszt back to their folk roots. 

Anna Lucia Richter provides a superb finish to a highly romantic Mahler 4 from Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. 

The Iván Fischer Opera Company makes a triumphant foray into Verdi's oeuvre.

Iván Fischer's minimalist staging of Don Giovanni makes a triumphant return to Mupa, Budapest.

An evening full of verve and surprise, Iván Fischer conducts Nicola Benedetti and Budapest Festival Orchestra in a Legendary Partnership at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra gave a lesson in ethnomusicology as part of the their all-Bartók programme, which culminated in a towering performance of Bluebeard's Castle.

Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra lit up Zurich’s historic Tonhalle with a stellar double-bill of Mendelssohn and Mahler.

Crisp Bartók, eloquent Schubert and a poignant tribute to Zoltán Kocsis in the Budapest Festival Orchestra's latest concert. 

Conductor Iván Fischer and violinist Nikolaj Znaider inject new life into works rendered banal by featuring in programmes too often.

A fascinating first-half juxtaposition of Enescu and Bartók is followed by a strangely unconvincing take on Mozart's “Prague” Symphony.

A master at clever programming, Maestro Iván Fischer surrounded Dutilleux with well-known pieces by Debussy, Ravel and Satie as part of the week-long French Days segment of the Bridging Europe 2016 series at Budapest’s Müpa. 

Berlin’s Konzerthaus Orchestra began its new season with works by two composers set against the artistic orthodoxies of their day.

Although Ács Ákos gave an excellent performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, Iván Fischer's innovative Requiem didn't quite work.

Iván Fischer's staged concert had its flaws, but some original ideas and a strong cast gave an impressive performance.

Bach’s Magnificat featured superlative solos from both singers and musicians, but the RCO and Iván Fischer reached a higher plane in a beautifully crafted and optimistic Brahms’ First Symphony.

This was one of those rare musical experiences, where playing strikes up a dialogue with the prevailing zeitgeist to produce something momentous.

The visiting Budapest Festival Orchestra delivered traditional repertoire with some unexpected quirks.

In a gilt-edged programme, Iván Fischer and Jean-Yves Thibaudet honoured the audience of the Great Hall with a splendid initiation of the New Year.

The Budapest Festival Orchestra poured out wave upon wave of euphoric depth, melancholy and sateen-like ensemble with vigor, heart and delightful ability under the guidance of their innately musical founder and conductor.  

Elegant Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra team with seasoned soloists, Yefim Bronfman and Miah Persson, for peerless Bartók and Mahler.