Iván Fischer
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Iván Fischer (born 20 January 1951) is a Hungarian conductor and composer. Born in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...
into a musical family of Jewish heritage, Fischer initially studied piano, violin, cello and composition in Budapest. His older brother,
Ádám Fischer Ádám Fischer (born 9 September 1949 in Budapest) is a Hungarian conductor. He is the general music director of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, chief conductor of the Danish Chamber Orchestra, and chief conductor of the Düsseldorfer Sy ...
, became a conductor in his own right. He moved later to Vienna to study conducting with
Hans Swarowsky Hans Swarowsky (September 16, 1899September 10, 1975,) was an Austrian conductor of Hungarian birth. Swarowsky was born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied the art of conducting under Felix Weingartner and Richard Strauss. Jiří Vysloužil, ...
at the University of Music and Performing Arts, where he also studied cello and early music, studying and working as assistant to
Nikolaus Harnoncourt Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt or historically Johann Nikolaus Graf de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt; () (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music ...
. He also studied with
Franco Ferrara Franco Ferrara (Palermo, 4 July 1911Florence, 7 September 1985) was an Italian conductor and teacher. Among his many students are various prominent conductors, including Roberto Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Andrew Davis and Riccardo Muti. Life and ...
at the
Accademia Musicale Chigiana The Accademia Musicale Chigiana (''English'': Chigiana Musical Academy) is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Class ...
in Siena. In 1976, Fischer won the Rupert Foundation conducting competition in London. He began thereafter to guest-conduct British orchestras such as the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...
, the BBC Symphony and the
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
, with whom he conducted a world tour in 1982. His US conducting debut was with the
Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...
in 1983.


Budapest Festival Orchestra

Fischer returned to Hungary in 1983 to found the
Budapest Festival Orchestra The Budapest Festival Orchestra ( Hungarian: ''Budapesti Fesztiválzenekar'') was formed in 1983 by Iván Fischer and Zoltán Kocsis, with musicians "drawn from the cream of Hungary's younger players", as ''The Times'' put it. Its aim was to mak ...
(BFO), which initially was intended for a limited number of concerts a year on a part-time basis. The BFO became a permanent institution in 1992, with a schedule of about 30 weeks of performing a year. With the BFO, he has incorporated unorthodox ideas into practice, including allowing individual symphony musicians to contribute to concert programming, as in the "cocoa-concerts" for young children. Other series include the ''Titok-koncert'' ("bag of surprise") concert series where the programme is not announced, "one forint concerts" where he talks to the audience, open-air concerts in Budapest attracting tens of thousands of people, as well as concert opera performances. Fischer has founded several festivals, including a summer festival in Budapest on baroque music and the Budapest Mahlerfest which is also a forum for commissioning and presenting new music works. In addition, there is an annual competition from within the orchestra for soloist opportunities in concert. Fischer and the BFO have recorded commercially for
Philips Classics Philips Classics Records was started in the 1980s as the new classics record label for Philips Records. It was successful with artists including Alfred Brendel, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fie ...
and Channel Classics Records.


Other symphonic work and opera

In the US, Fischer held the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary concert venue is Music Hall. In addition to its symphony concerts, the orchestra gives pops concerts as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The Cinc ...
for seven years. In 2006, he became Principal Guest Conductor of the
National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It also performs for the annual National M ...
of Washington, D.C. In April 2007, Fischer was named the principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), after
Leonard Slatkin Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer. Early life and education Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...
stepped down as music director in 2008. He held the title for two years. Fischer was Music Director at
Kent Opera Kent Opera was a British opera company active between 1969 and 1989. It was based in Ashford and regular venues included The Orchard Theatre, Dartford; Assembly Halls, Tunbridge Wells; Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Kings Theatre, Southsea; Theatre ...
in the UK from 1984 to 1989. He was Music Director of the Opéra National de Lyon from 2000 to 2003. The Lyon production of ''
Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...
'' received the prize of Best Regional Opera Production of the Year given by the Association of French Music Critics. Other work in opera as a guest conductor has included a
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
cycle in the
Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...
, and productions in Zurich, London, Paris, Brussels, Stockholm and Budapest. He debuted in 2006 at
Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, ...
in a new production of ''
Così fan tutte (''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte ...
'': In 2006, Fischer was named Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. In February 2011, he was named Music Director of the
Konzerthaus Berlin The Konzerthaus Berlin is a concert hall in Berlin, the home of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Situated on the Gendarmenmarkt square in the central Mitte district of the city, it was originally built as a theater. It initially operated from ...
and Principal Conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, effective with the 2012–2013 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. In October 2016, the orchestra announced that Fischer is to stand down as its principal conductor after the 2017/2018 season, at which close he concluded his tenure in the post. In October 2020, the
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). Considered one of the world's leading orchestras, Queen Beatrix conferred the " ...
announced the appointment of Fischer as its next honorary guest conductor (''honorair gastdirigent''), effective with the 2021-2022 season. In 2011, Fischer was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society's Music Award and the Dutch ''Ovatie'' Prize. In 2013, he was named an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London.


Compositions

Fischer's compositions are usually written for intimate groups of human voices and instruments. His "Spinoza-Vertalingen" for soprano and chamber ensemble composed on a 17th-century Dutch translation of
Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, ...
's text has been performed in the Netherlands and Hungary. For women's choir, he composed "Zigeunerlied" (
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...
), "La Malinconia" (
Umberto Saba Umberto Saba (9 March 1883 – 26 August 1957) was an Italian poet and novelist, born Umberto Poli in the cosmopolitan Mediterranean port of Trieste when it was the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Poli assumed the pen name ...
), "29. Canzone di
Petrarca Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...
", "Sait gesund" with a
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
text and "A nay kleyd" ( Rokhl Korn). The last two were commissioned by the Dutch memorial day ( Dodenherdenking) and broadcast on Dutch National TV. In 2011 he composed "de slome slak" (Joke van Leeuwen) for children's choir, commissioned by the Koorbiennale in the Netherlands and Festival Hymn 2011 commissioned by Young Euro Classic in Berlin. His most frequently performed work is "Eine Deutsch-Jiddische Kantate", which has been performed in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, USA and Switzerland. His one-act opera ''The Red Heifer'', "composed as a rebuke to what he and others see as growing tolerance for anti-Semitism in today's Hungary" was premiered at the Millennium Hall, Budapest, in October 2013.


Recordings

Fischer signed an exclusive recording contract with
Philips Classics Philips Classics Records was started in the 1980s as the new classics record label for Philips Records. It was successful with artists including Alfred Brendel, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fie ...
in 1995 and his Bartók and
Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
recordings with the
Budapest Festival Orchestra The Budapest Festival Orchestra ( Hungarian: ''Budapesti Fesztiválzenekar'') was formed in 1983 by Iván Fischer and Zoltán Kocsis, with musicians "drawn from the cream of Hungary's younger players", as ''The Times'' put it. Its aim was to mak ...
have won a
Gramophone Award The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and refe ...
, Diapason d'Or de l'Annee, four Cles de Telerama, the
Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...
, MUM and Erasmus prizes. Other Philips recordings include works by Kodály, Dvořák and Fischer's own orchestration of
Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
's '' Hungarian Dances'', which combine improvisations from Gypsy musicians with a symphony orchestra. Since 2004, Fischer has recorded for Channel Classics Records. His recording of
Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
's Second Symphony with the Budapest Festival Orchestra for Channel Classics won a 2007 "Editor's Choice" Gramophone Award. Other Fischer/BFO releases have included
Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
's Symphony No. 2; an incomplete Mahler symphony cycle (excluding the 8th);
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
's Symphonies No. 4 & 6;
Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
' Symphonies No. 1, 2 & 4;
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
' Symphonies No. 4, 6 & 7; Dvořák's Symphonies No. 7, 8 & 9; excerpts from
Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's '' Die Meistersingers'' and ''
Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), WWV 86D, is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled (''The Ring of the Nibelung'', or ''The Ring Cycle'' or ''The Ring'' for short). It received its premiere at the on 17 August 1876, as ...
'';
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
's '' Josephslegende''; and a release of his own compositions including ''Spinoza translations'' and ''Eine Deutsch-Jiddische Kantate''. On DVD, his Glyndebourne performance of
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
's ''
Così fan tutte (''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte ...
'' was nominated for Gramophone and
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
.


Awards

Fischer is a founder of the Hungarian Mahler Society, and Patron of the British Kodály Academy. He received the Golden Medal Award from the President of Hungary, and the Crystal Award from the
World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
for his services to help international cultural relations. The French Government named him
Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...
. In 2006, he was honored with the
Kossuth Prize The Kossuth Prize ( hu, Kossuth-díj) is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1948 (on occasion of the centenary of the March 15th revolution, the ...
, Hungary's most prestigious arts award. He is an honorary citizen of Budapest. In 2011, he received the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award in the Conductor category.


Invention

In response to the Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage, Fischer invented an acoustic face mask that featured plastic hands cupped around the wearer's ears. He said his masks "help to emulate church acoustics, with warmer undertones and clearer, sharper contours". Audience members said they improved the sound.


References


Further reading

*


External links

*
Naxos Records biography of Fischer
*
Iván Fischer discography at Channel Classics Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Ivan 20th-century classical composers Hungarian classical composers Hungarian male classical composers Hungarian conductors (music) Male conductors (music) University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni Hungarian expatriates in Austria Musicians from Budapest 1951 births Living people Bach conductors 20th-century conductors (music) 21st-century conductors (music) Hungarian Jewish musicians