Artist database

This is the Artist Database of BMC, which includes information about composers, musicians, orchestras, choirs and groups that are either Hungarian or Hungarian by origin or live in Hungary, as well as information about releases recorded with them.

Fischer Iván


conductor

Place of Birth
Budapest
Date of Birth
1951
Web

 
One of the most renowned conductors of today's world of classical music, Iván Fischer was born into a musical Hungarian family in 1951. He attended the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest where he studied piano, violin, cello and composition. He continued his musical studies in Vienna, where he graduated in Hans Swarowsky's famous conducting class. He became interested in early music and worked closely with Nikolaus Harnoncourt as harpsichordist and conductor. His international career started at the age of 25 when he won the BBC's Rupert Foundation Conducting Competition and with it invitations to conduct all the major British orchestras. Extremely active in opera, Fischer was from 1984 to 1989 music director of the Kent Opera and has also conducted productions at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Bastille Opera of Paris and the opera houses of Zurich, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Brussels and Budapest. In 1983 he founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra together with his colleague and friend, the pianist Zoltán Kocsis. The success of this new orchestra was quickly recognised by audiences and critics throughout the world and invitations to prestigious festivals and concert series were forthcoming. Iván Fischer is in great demand as a guest conductor with many of Europe's major orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchester, Westdeutscher Rundfunk Orchester, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestre National de France and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Principal Guest Conductor 1989-1996 of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, he has conducted in North America numerous orchestras, including the Baltimore, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Toronto, Los Angeles Philharmonic, St.Paul Chamber, St.Louis Symphony and San Francisco Symphony orchestras. He is founder of the Hungarian Mahler Society, and patron of the British Kódály Academy. He has received the Gold Medal of Merit of the President of the Republic of Hungary, and for promoting international cultural relations he was awarded with the Christal Award by the World Economic Forum of Davos. In 1984 he recevied the title of Merited Artist, and in 2006 he was awarded one of the highest Hungarian state award, the Kossuth Prize. Iván Fischer has recorded extensively for Philips, CBS, Sony, Decca, Hungaroton and Quintana. In 2024 he was given the Conductor of the Year Prize of Bartók Radio.

 
Year Title Publisher Code Remark
Bartók Béla: Zongoraversenyek; Scherzo; Rapszódia
(Bartók, Béla: Piano Concertos; Scherzo; Rhapsody)
Hungaroton HCD 12869
1983 A BFZ első koncertje
(The first BFO concert)
Hungaroton SLPD 12528 Own
1985 Schubert, Franz: IX.szimfónia Hungaroton SLPD, HCD 12722
1985 Berlioz, Hector: Rákóczi-induló Beethoven: István király - nyitány Hungaroton SPSD 22823
1987 Schubert, Franz: IV. (c-moll) és V. (B-dúr) szimfónia Hungaroton SLPD, HCD 12842
1987 Bartók Béla: Zongorára és zenekarra írott művek
(Bartók, Béla: Works for Piano and Orchestra)
Philips 416831-2
1988 Mozart, W. A.: C-dúr szimfóniák K.338/K.551, C-dúr menüett K.409 Hungaroton SLPD, HCD 12982
1989 Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix: A Midsummer Night's Dream (excerpts) / Hebrides / Songs Without Words (Kovacs, I. Fischer, Perenyi, Kocsis, Dubourg) Naxos CA15623
1990 The Best Of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Laserlight 15018
1990 Bartók Béla: Concerto; Táncszvit
(Bartók, Béla: Concerto; Dance Suite)
Hungaroton SLPD, HCD 31167
1990 Sztravinszkij, Igor: Petruska/A tűzmadár szvit
(Stravinsky: Petruska / Firebird Siut)
Hungaroton HCD 31095
1990 Strauss, Richard: Don Juan/Till Eulenspiegel/ Halál és megdicsőülés Hungaroton HCD 12899
1991 Strauss, Johann & Joseph: Polkák
(Strauss, Johann & Joseph: Polkas)
Quintana QUI 103106, 403016, 903016 Own
1991 Dvorák, Antonín: Karnevál-nyitány/VIII.szimfónia Quintana QUI 103107, 403017, 903017 Own
1991 Mozart, W. A.: Esz-dúr szimfóniák (K.543/K.132/K.184) Hungaroton SLPD, HCD 31093
1992 Liszt Ferenc: Mazeppa; Les Préludes; Tasso; I.Mefisztó-keringő Quintana QUI 903049, 403049 Own
1993 A Bach-család
(The Bach Family)
Ponty BFZ 6001
1994 Dvořák, Antonín: Gordonkaverseny Csajkovszkij, Pjotr Iljics: Változatok egy rokokó témára Hungaroton HCD 12868 Own
1994 Benda, Georg: Médeia - melodráma Ponty BFZ 6002
1994 Schubert, Franz: III. (D-dúr) és VIII. (h-moll) szimfónia Hungaroton SLPD, HCD 12616 Own
1995 Esküvői zene
(Wedding music)
Hungaroton HCD 31472
1995 Bartók Béla: I. és II.hegedűverseny
(Bartók, Béla: Violin Concerto Nos. 1-2)
Berlin Classics 0011342BC
1995 Bartók Béla: Rapszódia; Scherzo / Dohnányi Ernő: Változatok egy gyermekdalra
(Béla Bartók: Early Works for Piano and Orchestra, Rhapsody Op.1, Scherzo / Ernst von Dohnányi: Variations On a Nursery Song, Op.25)
Philips CD 446472-2
1996 Ravel, Maurice: G-dúr és D-dúr zongoraverseny / Debussy: Fantázia zongorára és zenekarra
(Ravel, Maurice: Piano Concerto in G major and D major / Debussy: Fantasy fro Piano and Orchestra)
Philips CD 446713-2
1996 Classic Masterworks - Antonin Dvorak Capriccio C49039
1996 Liszt Ferenc: Esz-dúr és A-dúr zongoraverseny / Dohnányi: Változatok egy gyermekdalra
(Liszt: Piano Concertos in E flat major & in A major / Dohnányi: Variations on a Nursey Song Op. 25)
Hungaroton SLPD, HCD 31362 Own
1996 Donizetti, Gaetano: Don Pasquale Hungaroton HCD 12416-17 2 CDs / Recorded in 1982
1996 Bartók Béla: Zongoraversenyek
(Bartók, Béla: Piano Concertos)
Teldec 0630-13158-2
1997 Liszt Ferenc: Faust szimfónia
(Franz Liszt: Faust Symphony)
Philips 454460-2 Own
1997 Brahms, Johannes: Magyar táncok Nos. 1-21 (Összes)
(Brahms, Johannes: Hungarian Dances, Nos. 1-21 (complete))
Hungaroton HCD 12571 Own
1997 Bartók Béla: A csodálatos mandarin; Román tánc; Magyar képek; Román népi táncok; Magyar parasztdalok; Erdélyi táncok
(Béla Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin (Complete Ballet); Hungarian Peasant Songs; Roumanian Folk Dances )
Philips 454430
1997 Bartók Béla: A fából faragott királyfi; Táncszvit
(Béla Bartók: The Wooden Prince; Dance Suite)
Philips 454429-2
1998 Liszt Ferenc: Hat magyar rapszódia
(Liszt: Six Hungarian Raphsody)
Philips 456570 Own
1998 Bartók Béla: Kossuth-szimfónia; Falun; Concerto
(Béla Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; 3 Village Scenes; Kossuth)
Philips 456575-2
1999 Brahms, Johannes: Magyar táncok Philips 462589-2
1999 Kodály Zoltán: Háry János - szvit/Marosszéki táncok/Galántai táncok/Kórusművek Philips 462824-2 Own
2000 Dvořák, Antonín: Legendák/Prágai keringők/Miniatűrök/H-dúr noktürn
(Dvořák, Antonín: Legends / Miniatures / Nocturne / Prague Waltzes)
Philips 464647-2 Own
2000 Mozart, W. A.: The Best Of W.A. Mozart Laserlight 24465
2000 Népszerű indulók
(Famous Marches)
Hungaroton HRC 1055 Echo Collection
2001 Sarasate, Pablo de: Cigánydalok/Carmen-fantázia Dvorak: e-moll mazurka/Hegedűverseny
(Dvorák: Violin Concerto / Sarasate, Pablo de: Carmen Fantasy)
Philips 464531
2001 Dvořák, Antonín: VIII. és IX. szimfónia Philips 464460-2 Own
2001 Dvořák, Antonín: Szláv táncok Op. 46 & 72
(Dvořák, Antonín: Slavonic Dances Op.46 & 72)
Philips 464601-2 Own
2001 50 éves a Hungaroton - Karmesterek (1951-2001)
(Fifty Years of Hungaroton - Conductors, 1951-2001)
Hungaroton HCD 32074-77 4 CDs
2003 Bartók Béla: Zongoraversenyek I-III.
(Bartók, Béla: The Piano Concertos No. 1-3)
Warner 0927-46735-2 Own
2004 András Schiff Artist Portrait Warner 2564-61588-2
2004 Famous Austrian Composers - Strauss, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Haydn, Albrechtsberger Capriccio C49370 5 CDs
2010 Christmas Meditation Capriccio C7073 5 CDs