Despite its name, the Budapest Festival Orchestra functions as a year-round organization rather than a temporary summer group. Its programming encompasses an extensive range of works, it maintains a global concert calendar, and it regularly engages leading soloists, which prompted Gramophone magazine to rank it among the world’s ten finest ensembles.
Iván Fischer and pianist Zoltán Kocsis founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 1983, recruiting its players from Hungary’s most gifted young musicians, and Fischer has served as chief conductor from the outset. Early critical praise led to its recognition by 1992 as a permanent Budapest institution, presenting concerts at the Béla Bartók National Auditorium and abroad. Full seasons commenced in 2000, underwritten by a dedicated foundation that receives support from the city of Budapest. International engagements have taken the orchestra to the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Carnegie Hall in New York, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, as well as major summer festivals. Internationally celebrated artists including Gidon Kremer, Yehudi Menuhin, and Georg Solti, who held the post of permanent guest conductor until his death, have appeared with the ensemble in Budapest. Operatic productions form part of its activities, and its repertory stretches from the Baroque through contemporary scores, with a pronounced focus on Hungarian composers. Mahler’s music has figured prominently in both performances and recordings, prompting Fischer to establish the Budapest Mahlerfest.
Since the 1990s the Budapest Festival Orchestra has recorded extensively for Philips, Decca, and, most frequently, Channel Classics, which released its account of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in 2020. The ensemble also sustains an orchestral academy open to recent university graduates.
