Iván Fischer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Iván Fischer
Iván Fischer, Budapest, 2015
Background information
Born	20 January 1951 Budapest, Hungary
Occupation(s)	Conductor composer

Iván Fischer (born January 20, 1951) is a famous Hungarian conductor and composer. He is known for his creative ideas in music and for leading many orchestras around the world.

Early Life and Training

Iván Fischer was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1951. He came from a family with a strong musical background. His family had Jewish heritage.

From a young age, Iván studied several instruments. He learned to play the piano, violin, and cello. He also studied how to compose music. His older brother, Ádám Fischer, also became a well-known conductor.

Later, Iván moved to Vienna, Austria. There, he studied conducting with a famous teacher named Hans Swarowsky. He also continued to study cello and early music. He even worked as an assistant to another important musician, Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Fischer also learned from Franco Ferrara in Italy.

Starting His Career

In 1976, Iván Fischer won a big conducting competition in London. This helped him start his career. He began to lead many British orchestras as a guest conductor. These included the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra.

In 1982, he went on a world tour with the London Symphony Orchestra. His first time conducting in the United States was in 1983. He led the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra.

Budapest Festival Orchestra

In 1983, Fischer went back to Hungary. He had a big idea: to create the Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO). At first, it was meant to be a part-time orchestra. They would play only a few concerts each year.

But the orchestra became very popular. By 1992, the BFO became a full-time orchestra. They now perform for about 30 weeks each year.

Fischer brought many new and exciting ideas to the BFO.

• He let individual musicians help plan the concerts.
• They had "cocoa-concerts" for young children.
• The "Titok-koncert" (meaning "bag of surprise") series had secret programs. The audience didn't know what music they would hear until the concert started!
• They also had "one forint concerts." Here, Fischer would talk to the audience.
• Huge outdoor concerts in Budapest attracted thousands of people.
• They also performed concert operas. These are opera performances without the full stage sets and costumes.

Fischer also started several music festivals. These include a summer festival for baroque music. He also created the Budapest Mahlerfest. This festival is a place for new music to be played for the first time. The orchestra even has a yearly competition. Musicians from the orchestra can win a chance to be a soloist in a concert.

Fischer and the BFO have made many recordings. Their music can be found on labels like Philips Classics and Channel Classics Records.

Other Orchestras and Opera Work

Iván Fischer has worked with many other famous orchestras. In the United States, he was the main guest conductor for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for seven years. He also held a similar role with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. He was their principal conductor for two years, starting in 2008.

Fischer has also worked a lot in opera. He was the Music Director at Kent Opera in the UK from 1984 to 1989. He also led the Opéra National de Lyon in France from 2000 to 2003. One of his opera productions there won an award for Best Regional Opera Production.

He has conducted operas by Mozart in Vienna. He has also led productions in many other major cities. These include Zurich, London, Paris, and Stockholm. In 2006, he made his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He conducted a new production of Mozart's Così fan tutte.

In 2011, Fischer became the Music Director of the Konzerthaus Berlin. He was also the principal conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He held these roles until 2018. In 2020, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Netherlands named him an honorary guest conductor. In 2024, he became the music director of the European Union Youth Orchestra.

Fischer has received many awards for his musical work. These include the Royal Philharmonic Society's Music Award. He was also made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Compositions

Besides conducting, Iván Fischer also writes his own music. His compositions are often for small groups of singers and instruments.

One of his pieces is "Spinoza-Vertalingen." It is for a soprano singer and a chamber ensemble. It uses a 17th-century Dutch text. This work has been performed in the Netherlands and Hungary.

He has also written music for women's choirs. These include "Zigeunerlied" and "A nay kleyd." The last two were written for a Dutch memorial day. They were even shown on Dutch National TV. His most often performed work is "Eine Deutsch-Jiddische Kantate." It has been played in many countries.

In 2013, his one-act opera called The Red Heifer was performed for the first time in Budapest.

Recordings

Iván Fischer has made many recordings with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. His recordings of music by Bartók and Liszt have won several awards. These include a Gramophone Award and the Diapason d'Or.

He has also recorded works by Kodály and Dvořák. He even created his own version of Brahms's Hungarian Dances. For this, he combined improvisations from Gypsy musicians with a symphony orchestra.

Since 2004, Fischer has recorded for Channel Classics Records. His recording of Mahler's Second Symphony won a Gramophone Award in 2007. Other recordings include symphonies by Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Beethoven, and Dvořák. He has also recorded excerpts from operas by Wagner.

On DVD, his performance of Mozart's Così fan tutte from Glyndebourne was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Awards and Recognition

Iván Fischer has received many honors for his contributions to music.

• He helped start the Hungarian Mahler Society.
• He received the Golden Medal Award from the President of Hungary.
• The World Economic Forum gave him the Crystal Award. This was for his work in helping cultural relations between countries.
• The French Government made him a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. This is a special honor for artists.
• In 2006, he won the Kossuth Prize. This is Hungary's most important arts award.
• He is an honorary citizen of Budapest and Vicenza, Italy.
• In 2011, he received the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for best conductor.

A Special Invention

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fischer came up with a unique idea. He invented a special face mask for musicians and audience members. This mask had plastic hands cupped around the wearer's ears.

Fischer said these masks helped the sound. They made it warmer and clearer, like the acoustics in a church. People who used them said they really did improve the sound.