Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Budapest Festival Orchestra

In an epic night in the Alps, Isata Kanneh-Mason shines in 'Rach 3', while Fischer's Mahler's Symphony no. 1 could scarcely be bettered. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

A pair of Soviet Cold War classics featured in Pietari Inkinen's Budapest debut at Müpa. 

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

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. 

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.

Julian Rachlin steps in at the last moment and scores a win on a winning score.

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

Though the Budapest Festival Orchestra’s programme used all the traditional ingredients for a concert of Russian music, it improved the recipe considerably with very special flavours.

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

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.

Iván Fischer, and the Budapest Festival Orchestra brought a high level of intimacy with, and understanding of, the repertoire performed in the evening’s programme in São Paulo. 

A traditional programme of overture, concerto and symphony delivered classically, with a soloist on radiant form.

  Iván Fischer has distinguished himself as a conductor with inimitable listening skills; he truly has an ear for which sounds should be coming from where and how the sounds of each member of the Budapest Festival Orchestra should be arranged in space. 

Rich textures and sculpted phrases: Iván Fischer presents a unique vision of Brahms' Third and Fourth symphonies. Drama maybe lacking, but the BPO more than compensate with the beauty and elegance of their sound.

Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra gave a breath-taking performance, with  concentration and class.

Amsterdam has an outstanding history for Mahler performances, but this fine Ninth from Iván Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra lived up to all this history.

In his program note, conductor-director Iván Fischer describes his Mostly Mozart Festival production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro as a staged concert. His agenda sounds serious: “This is my attempt to bring theater and music closer to each other, to create a new natural harmony.” He asks for a new era in opera production, seeking “organic unity” between music and theater.