Transforming its sound: the Budapest Festival Orchestra in Brazil

By Ivan Chiarelli, 30 June 2015

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Reviewed at Sala São Paulo, São Paulo on 29 June 2015

Bartók, Hungarian Sketches (Magyar képek) for orchestra, SZ 97

Strauss R., Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs)

Mahler, Symphony no. 4 in G major

Miah Persson, Soprano

Budapest Festival Orchestra

Iván Fischer, Conductor

Clarity and communion in Budapest Festival Orchestra’s Mahler 3

Michelle Assay, 12th February

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.

*****

Budapest Festival Orchestra plays – and sings – at Carnegie Hall

Susan Stempleski, 6th February

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.

****1

Budapest Festival Orchestra at the Elbphilharmonie

Mengguang Huang, 11th November

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.

****1

Unseduced: Don Giovanni opens the Budapest Festival Orchestra season

Orsolya Gyárfás, 9th September

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

***11

Bluebeard at the Proms with Iván Fischer and the BFO

Roy Westbrook, 6th August

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.

*****

Earth-shattering Mahler 2 from the Budapest FO at the Mahler Festival

Clare Varney, 11th May

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.

*****

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Ivan Chiarelli

Brazilian born composer and performer based in Berlin, Ivan holds a B. M. in music composition and a M. A. in music analysis from the São Paulo State University. A former artist-in-residence at the Casa das Caldeiras, he was a Spanish Ministry of Culture fellowship student at the CNDM (Madrid), and an awarded composer at the Música Nova festival (Brazil), and his work has been performed in Brazil, Germany, France, Switzerland, Colombia, Argentina, and Korea. He’s also part of the invisibili(cidades) and NME experimental music collectives. More information at www.ivanchiarelli.com