On the evening of November 30th, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, one of the world's top ten symphony orchestras, landed at the Xinghai Concert Hall for the first time under the leadership of maestro Iván Fischer, bringing a symphony feast full of surprises to music fans, just like the "Ersha Island Retreat Concert".
Fisher supports Xinghai Concert Hall's public welfare art project "Music Companion Program"
Ivan Fisher: "The soundstage here is superb"
The Budapest Festival Orchestra from Hungary, founded 40 years ago, was named one of the world's top 10 orchestras by Gramophone in 2008 and won the Orchestra of the Year award in 2022 – the only award voted for by Gramophone magazine. The orchestra's founder and music director, Iván Fischer, is also the honorary conductor of the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Konzerthaus Berlin Orchestra, and has conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker more than ten times.
After visiting the Xinghai Concert Hall for the first time and feeling the enthusiasm of the Guangzhou audience and the high-quality sound stage of the concert hall, Fisher said: "I am very happy to come to the Xinghai Concert Hall, I think the sound stage here is super good, and we have had a very happy time. I would like to send my best wishes to everyone who works here on their 25th birthday and hope to be able to come back soon!"
Fisher
Music fans praised: "The world's top 10, extraordinary"
In the evening's concert, the orchestra presented a series of classic German-Austrian works: Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Symphony No. 1 in C major and Schubert's Symphony No. 9 "The Great". The pure interpretation and warm and moist tone are a feast for the ears of music fans.
Music critic Zhai Jia commented: "Fisher and the Budapest Festival Orchestra he founded are a pair with a 'sense of time'. Ivan Fischer, who was an assistant to Harnoncourt and led the famous British Enlightenment Orchestra, has a very good understanding of the performance of 'ancient music', which can well explain his 'ancient meaning' in the treatment of Beethoven's works in the first half. ”
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Veteran music fan He Muxiang said: "The Budapest Festival Orchestra is truly extraordinary and lives up to expectations. The timbre is warm and moist, the balance of the voices is very good, delicate and light, rich in detail, and the breath is long...... Schubert's Ninth Symphony is the best live version I've ever heard. ”
The visit of the Budapest Festival Orchestra also attracted many musicians to observe and Xi, and percussionists Zhang Lide and Liang Jiehui of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra said that the orchestra's musicians broke the convention and created a better sound. "The orchestra is not set up according to the usual practice, but according to the characteristics of the piece. For example, in Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C major in the second half, conductor Fisher put the wind in front and divided the trombone into three different corners, giving the audience a very different feeling from both visual and auditory perspectives, and the overall sound effect is very balanced, and the sound of the inner voice and the accompaniment is clearly audible, and the details are very clear. Zhang Lide said.
Full of love, support the "Music Companion Program"
"To share music of the highest quality and to serve society in diverse ways" is the orchestra philosophy of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Fisher attaches great importance to social responsibility, and the orchestra's performances are full of strong and heartfelt humanistic care. In its series of innovative concerts, the "Autism-Friendly Cocoa Concert" and the "Square Dance Project" use music to bring joy and healing.
The scene of the "Music Accompaniment Program".
Although the schedule for this Guangzhou performance was very full, Fisher and the three orchestra members still took time out to support the "Music Companion Program", a public welfare art project of Xinghai Concert Hall. Qihui School in Nansha District, Guangzhou is a designated twinning school of the "Into the Campus" series of the "Music Companion Program". Since 2021, the "Music Companion Program" has invited music tutors to continue to provide tailor-made special education music courses for the school.
The scene of the "Music Accompaniment Program".
On the same day, under the guidance of music instructor Zheng Zhejia, 15 children with special needs jumped on the stage of the chamber music recital hall of Xinghai Concert Hall and performed two music programs for Fisher and the musicians. "Clap your hands, dance, and welcome to the kingdom of music!" the children's immersion in the music caused Fisher and the musicians to clap and sway together. Subsequently, the 14-year-old presented Fisher with a paper-cut work he had made.
The scene of the "Music Accompaniment Program".
During the exchange, Fisher always looked at the children with a smile and said to them: "You are all very happy to immerse yourself in music, music is a very happy thing, you have performed very well, and thank you for bringing me great happiness Xi!"