On December 5^th, Iván Fischer, a world-renowned maestro, returned to the NCPA Concert Hall with the Budapest Festival Orchestra after seven years. They worked with the pianist Anna Vinnitskaya in presenting Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 2, etc., offering a Romantic feast for Beijing music lovers. Tonight, they will render symphonic masterpieces by Beethoven and Schubert.


Maestro Iván Fischer chose the complete works of Rachmaninoff, a great Romantic composer, for their first concert to commemorate the 150^th anniversary of his birth. That evening’s concert started with a bang - 12 string musicians walked into the auditorium and played Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, composed in 1912, together with their colleagues on the stage. Following Iván Fischer’s ingenious arrangement and rich gesture, the Budapest Festival Orchestra gave an amazing interpretation of the long melodic line of this work, with endless sweetness and sorrow brought to the fore at one stroke.



The performance of Symphony No. 2 in the second half of the concert confirmed Maestro Iván Fischer and the orchestra’s accurate control over his musical style. The work has been performed many times on the same stage by different world-class artists and orchestras this year. Nevertheless, Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra gave it a refreshing interpretation. Maestro Fischer showed stronger self-restraint in music development, so that the audience impressed by an artistic effect. A more soul-stirring acoustic effect was created at the peak of sensibility, leaving a lingering aftertaste. Concert over, Maestro Iván Fischer and the artists presented a musical gift full of surprises - putting down their instruments and picking up the scores, the musicians formed a choir and sang the Chinese folk song Jasmine Flower.


Another highlight of the first half was Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. This most challenging piano concert in the history of music was played by the pianist Anna Vinnitskaya. For the cadenza in the first movement, Vinnitskaya interpreted it in the elegant “Toccata” version. Her mastery of the work and composure was demonstrated in her high-challenge performance, which was deeply impressive. As the pianist and orchestra worked in unison, the power and charm of the music once again charmed the audience.


The next day, Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra will offer another music feast by rendering German-Austrian master musicians Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Symphony No. 1 and Schubert’s Symphonic No. 9 “The Great”.