Lisa Milne (soprano) & Birgit Remmert (alto)Budapest Festival Orchestra & The Hungarian Radio Choir, Iván Fischer
Channel Classics · CCSSA23506 · 82 minutes
Fischer has a gift for letting Brahms breathe, and this live recording with the Budapest Festival Orchestra captures that quality beautifully — nothing feels forced, and the balance between Lisa Milne and Birgit Remmert is just lovely. The Hungarian Radio Choir brings a real warmth and weight to the choral writing without ever tipping into heaviness. If you want a Brahms Requiem that feels alive in the room rather than polished to a sheen, this one’s a genuine find.
Awards:
- Gramophone Magazine — Awards Issue 2006 — Disc of the Month
- Gramophone Awards — 2007 — Editor’s Choice
“…Fischer… rarely pushes too hard. The orchestral sound is lean but not undernourished, allowing for even balance between contesting lines – outstanding in the funereal coda of the first movement…”
— BBC Music Magazine, October 2006,4 out of 5 stars
Miah Persson (soprano)Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Channel Classics · CCSSA26109 · 56 minutes
Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra bring such an irresistible warmth to this recording that it’s hard not to fall completely under its spell. Miah Persson’s soprano floats in with an effortless grace that feels perfectly matched to the orchestra’s natural, breathing phrasing. The awards and five-star praise aren’t surprising at all — this one genuinely earns every bit of the attention it’s received.
Awards:
- Building a Library — May 2010 — Featured
- BBC Music Magazine Awards — 2010 — Orchestral Finalist
- Gramophone Awards — 2009 — Finalist – Orchestral
- Gramophone Magazine — April 2009 — Editor’s Choice
“…Fischer’s feeling of the Symphony’s supple architecture, his ability to caress a phrase or point out a delicious colour without losing the sense of the larger flow, make this one of the most…”
— BBC Music Magazine, April 2009,5 out of 5 stars
Gerhild Romberger (alto)Budapest Festival Orchestra, Cantemus Children’s Choir, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Iván Fischer
Channel Classics · CCSSA38817 · 95 minutes
Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra bring such a lived-in warmth to Mahler’s Third that it feels less like a performance and more like a conversation with the music itself. Gerhild Romberger’s alto is a grounding presence, and there’s this wonderful looseness to the playing — that "stylishly lazy trombone" the BBC noted says it all. It swept up awards across the board in 2017, and honestly, it’s easy to hear why.
Awards:
- Gramophone Magazine — June 2017 — Editor’s Choice
- Presto Recordings of the Year — Finalist 2017
- The Times Records of the Year — 2017
- The New York Times — Recordings of the Year 2017
“As vivid a performance as one would expect. That stylishly lazy trombone, a dying monster, is emblematic of the characteristic licence the conductor gives to his splendid Budapest players…the…”
— BBC Music Magazine, July 2017,4 out of 5 stars
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Philips · 4767255 · 66 minutes
Fischer and his Budapest players bring something genuinely special to Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra — there’s a real sense of ownership here, like the music is flowing through musicians who have this repertoire in their bones. That subtle portamento the Gramophone reviewers flagged in the first movement is a perfect example of the kind of detail that separates a good performance from a great one. It’s been a recommended go-to since its release and honestly, nearly two decades later, it still holds up beautifully.
Awards:
- Gramophone Magazine — December 2005 — Editor’s Choice
- Building A Library — January 2022 — Recommended Recording
“It is the flavour of this Concerto for Orchestra that wins the day. Just sample the subtle portamento that spices the string line at bars 52-3 (2’36”) of the first movement, and the sombre…”
— Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Channel Classics · CCSSA36115 · 75 minutes
It’s hard not to get swept up in what Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra bring to Mahler’s Ninth — there’s a rawness and emotional honesty here that feels genuinely lived-in rather than performed. Fischer has always had a knack for finding fresh angles on familiar repertoire, and the awards and critical love this one picked up in 2015 were thoroughly deserved. If you want a Mahler Ninth that actually gets under your skin, this is the one to reach for.
Awards:
- Presto Recording of the Week — 18th May 2015
- Gramophone Magazine — June 2015 — Editor’s Choice
- Presto Recordings of the Year — Winner 2015
“You can always expect insights from Iván Fischer’s energised Budapest Festival Orchestra, and he has his own distinctive view on this most traumatic and ultimately transcendent of symphonies…for…”
— BBC Music Magazine, August 2015
Budapest Festival Orchestra & Pro Musica (women’s choir), Iván Fischer
Channel Classics · CCSSA37418 · 56 minutes
Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra bring such a sense of wonder to Mendelssohn’s *A Midsummer Night’s Dream* that it feels less like a concert performance and more like stumbling into an actual enchanted forest at midnight. Those opening wind chords in the overture are given extra room to breathe, and the effect is genuinely spellbinding — you hear the magic in the music as if for the first time. The women of Pro Musica add a lovely ethereal shimmer throughout, making this a recording worth returning to again and again.
Awards:
- Presto Editor’s Choice — June 2018
- Presto Recordings of the Year — Finalist 2018
“Fischer is alive to the magical atmosphere of Felix Mendelssohn’s score and nowhere more keenly than at the start of the overture, where the four wind chords are extended beyond their usual…”
— BBC Music Magazine, August 2018,4 out of 5 stars
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno, Iván Fischer
Channel Classics · CCSSA37016 · 58 minutes
Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra bring a kind of clarity to Mahler’s Second that feels almost revelatory — you notice things in the texture you’ve somehow never caught before, like those strings quietly threading through even the biggest brass blowouts. There’s a warmth and attentiveness here that makes 58 minutes feel both epic and intimate at the same time. If you haven’t spent an afternoon with this one yet, clear your schedule.
Awards:
- Presto Recording of the Week — 23rd September 2016
“Fischer once again doesn’t disappoint; indeed, he’s brought to light elements of this work, in particular textural detaileven during the loud brass-led sections, the strings can still be heard…”
— David Smith, Presto Music, 23rd September 2016
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Hungarian Radio Chorus, Iván Fischer
Philips · 4761799 · 66 minutes
Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra bring something genuinely electric to this recording — there’s a raw, almost feral energy to the Miraculous Mandarin that feels like it couldn’t have come from anywhere but Budapest. The Hungarian Radio Chorus adds this eerie, visceral texture that really gets under your skin. If you’ve ever wondered what Bartók sounds like when it’s performed by people who have it in their DNA, this is your answer.
Awards:
- Gramophone Awards — 1998 — Winner – Orchestral
- Building A Library — December 2023 — Recommended Recording
“As Mandarins go, they don’t come more miraculous than this – a vivid, no-holds-barred performance. Everything tells: the flavour is right, the pacing too, and the sound has a toughened, raw-edged…”
— Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Channel Classics · CCSSA38019 · 75 minutes
There’s something almost magical about the way Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra find both intimacy and grand spectacle in the same breath — the contrast between those delicate, chamber-like dances and the blazing fanfares feels totally alive and in the moment. Channel Classics captures it all with a transparency that lets every layer of the orchestra breathe, even when things get gloriously loud. It’s the kind of recording that reminds you why live, responsive music-making matters so much.
Awards:
- Gramophone Magazine — April 2019 — Recording of the Month
- BBC Music Magazine — June 2019 — Orchestral Choice
- International Classical Music Awards — 2019 — Nominee – Symphonic Music
“Fischer contrasts gracious, chamber-textured dances with brilliant fanfares and toppling masses to absolute perfection. Throughout there’s a transparency to the recorded sound, even in the heftiest…”
— BBC Music Magazine, June 2019
