Iván Fischer focuses on the big picture in Mahler 5 at Lincoln Center

By Edward Sava-Segal, 26 February 2020

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“an interpretation where frenzy was less important than balance and precision”

Reviewed at Lincoln Center: Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, New York City on 24 February 2020

Mahler, Kindertotenlieder

Mahler, Symphony no. 5 in C sharp minor

Budapest Festival Orchestra

Iván Fischer, Conductor

Gerhild Romberger, Contralto

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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Edward Sava-Segal

Edward has been living in New York for the last 25 years, one of the reasons being the extraordinarily rich cultural life in this city. He has studied piano and classical music in his early years. He switched later on to computer science and data architecture but he kept an unwavering interest in following the classical music phenomenon here in New York and in his travels. Edward occasionally reviews fine arts events for the most prestigious literary magazine in Romania, his home country.