Iván Fischer | WatchedThis
Iván Fischer
Sound
Biography
Iván Fischer (born 20 January 1951) is a Hungarian conductor and composer. Born in Budapest into a musical family (his older brother, Ádám Fischer, is also a conductor), Fischer initially studied piano, violin, cello and composition in Budapest. He moved later to Vienna to study conducting with Hans Swarowsky at the University of Music and Performing Arts, where he also studied cello and early music, studying and working as assistant to Nikolaus Harnoncourt. In 1976, Fischer won the Rupert Foundation conducting competition in London. He began thereafter to guest-conduct such British orchestras as the BBC Symphony and the London Symphony Orchestra, with whom he conducted a world tour in 1982. His US conducting debut was with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1983. Description above from the Wikipedia article Iván Fischer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Bach Matthäus-Passion
A beautiful, sensitive, reverent performance. Fischer allows Bach to speak with no unnecessary flourishes. Padmore as the Evangelist is superb, and the other soloists and choirs are near perfect. And of course the Concertgebouw orchestral musicians are absolutely first class.
Music and Power
Music is not "just" music. It can have immense power in good or evil. This documentary by Maria Stodtmeier and Isa Willinger highlights interesting and very current themes about the links between music and politics.
Parsifal: Dutch National Opera (Fischer)
Iván Fischer makes his DNO debut. He conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Pierre Audi, artistic director of DNO and the Holland Festival, directs his first new DNO production since Saint François d'Assise (2008). For Parsifal Audi once again joins forces with the British sculptor Anish Kapoor (décor). Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester previously sang the role of Amfortas at the Opéra National de Paris and the Bayreuther Festspiele. Kurt Rydl (Titurel/Klingsor) made previous DNO appearances as Hagen/Hunding in Der Ring des Nibelungen and as Heinrich in Lohengrin. Kurt Rydl has been an honorary member of the Wiener Staatsoper since 1999. Falk Struckmann has frequently sung the role of Amfortas, but now makes his first DNO appearance in his role debut as Gurnemanz. The title role is sung by Christopher Ventris, who previously appeared at DNO as Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer. Petra Lang (Kundry) previously sang Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde and Venus in Tannhäuser at DNO.
Die Zauberflöte
This performance of Mozart's two-act opera Zauberflote, recorded at the Opera National de Paris in 2001, was directed especially for TV and video. Some of the vocalists featured in the leading roles include Piotr Beczala, Wolfgang Schone, Dorothea Roschmann, Detlef Roth, and others.
Production
Parsifal: Dutch National Opera (Fischer)
Iván Fischer makes his DNO debut. He conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Pierre Audi, artistic director of DNO and the Holland Festival, directs his first new DNO production since Saint François d'Assise (2008). For Parsifal Audi once again joins forces with the British sculptor Anish Kapoor (décor). Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester previously sang the role of Amfortas at the Opéra National de Paris and the Bayreuther Festspiele. Kurt Rydl (Titurel/Klingsor) made previous DNO appearances as Hagen/Hunding in Der Ring des Nibelungen and as Heinrich in Lohengrin. Kurt Rydl has been an honorary member of the Wiener Staatsoper since 1999. Falk Struckmann has frequently sung the role of Amfortas, but now makes his first DNO appearance in his role debut as Gurnemanz. The title role is sung by Christopher Ventris, who previously appeared at DNO as Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer. Petra Lang (Kundry) previously sang Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde and Venus in Tannhäuser at DNO.
Così fan tutte
Mozart's genius in setting to music da Ponte's comic play of love, infidelity and forgiveness marks COSI FAN TUTTE as one of the great works of art from the Age of Enlightenment. Nicholas Hytner's beautiful new production, with its sure touch and theatrical know-how, lives up to its promise to be "shockingly traditional" as Iván Fischer teases artful performances from an outstanding international cast of convincing young lovers.
Die Zauberflöte
This performance of Mozart's two-act opera Zauberflote, recorded at the Opera National de Paris in 2001, was directed especially for TV and video. Some of the vocalists featured in the leading roles include Piotr Beczala, Wolfgang Schone, Dorothea Roschmann, Detlef Roth, and others.
Don Giovanni, K. 527
Take Mozart's darkest opera, add the artistry of Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra and bring them all together in the breathtaking surroundings of Palladio's Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. Those were the basic ingredients for this production of Don Giovanni at the 2025 Vicenza Opera Festival, but it's safe to say that the reality exceeded expectation. After a lifetime's engagement with Mozart, Iván Fischer has developed a very personal approach to stage direction; and with a cast that includes André Schuen in the title role and Maria Bengtsson as Donna Anna this is in every sense a landmark staging.