Podcast appearances and mentions of ivan fischer

Kate Molleson travels to Budapest to meet Hungary's greatest living composer, György Kurtág, now 97 years old. Kurtag talks to Kate about the musical homages that he has made to friends, his early focus on the clarity of single notes at the time he wrote his Op.1 String Quartet, the influence of languages on his compositional style, and his new opera, a work based on the life of the German mathematician, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. Above all, he talks about his Marta, his wife of over 70 years, with whom he performed piano duets, and he reveals to Kate why he stayed in Hungary in 1956.Kurtag once said that his mother tongue is Bartok, and Kate visits the Bela Bartok Memorial House where she talks to the curator, Zoltán Farkas, about the composer's relationship with Hungary and the folk traditions that he collected both at home and in neighbouring countries. During a break in a busy rehearsal schedule, the conductor Ivan Fischer also shares his views on Bartok and the distinctive sound of the Budapest Festival Orchestra.Kate joins the director of the Hungarian Radio Choir, Zoltán Pad, and the composer Daniel Dinyes, to learn how the Hungarian language is expressed in music, and hear more about the unique sound of the choir. Kate also meets Hungary's queen of song, Márta Sebestyén, who is at the very heart of Hungary's folk music. Márta Sebestyén talks with pride about her mother, a celebrated student of Zoltan Kodaly, about her own travels in search of pure folk music. She treats Kate, too, to a traditional Christmas carol.

Marking the centenary of Hungarian composer György Ligeti, Tom Service talks to musicians who knew him and who love his music. Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and composer and conductor Thomas Adès explore the musical universe of the Violin Concerto; pianist Tamara Stefanovich describes meeting the composer and the intensity and fragility required to perform his music; Tom joins composer Anna Meredith in her studio to listen to one of his last works, the Hamburg Concerto; and György Ligeti's son, the composer and instrumentalist Lukas Ligeti reveals the passion he shared with his father for creating imaginary worlds, both musical and non-musical. Tom also talks to conductor Iván Fischer - the founder of the acclaimed Budapest Festival Orchestra - ahead of his appearances at the BBC Proms and at Edinburgh International Festival this summer. They discuss the difficulties of changing how symphony orchestras work, how his orchestra's mission to bring music to the communities of Budapest translates when they're on tour, and why mistakes are a very good thing. Plus musicians and noise. With recent stories about noise complaints against both musicians rehearsing at home and long-established music venues, we talk to Clara Cullen from the Music Venues Trust, Stuart Darke from the Independent Society of Musicians and Lisa Lavia from the Noise Abatement Society about the law, the psychology and how to balance the needs of musicians with the rights of communities for peace and quiet.

French oboist Philippe Tondre has secured a place among the finest musicians of his generation. «Master of the oboe » (Bonner General Anzeiger), his music-making is packed with emotional sensitivity and stunning virtuosity. Principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the SWR Symphony Orchestra, Philippe Tondre is also a member of the Mito Chamber Orchestra, the newly-founded Kammer Ensemble Paris, and Principal Oboe of the Saito Kinen Orchestra Matsumoto. From 2014 until 2020 he was Solo Oboe of the Budapest Festival Orchestra and from 2016 until 2017 Solo Oboe of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. He has worked with eminent conductors, amongst others Seiji Ozawa, Yannick Nezet-Séguin, Sir Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Andris Nelsons, Ivan Fischer, Daniele Gatti, Teodor Currentzis, Franz Welser- Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Fabio Luisi, Herbert Blomstedt, Esa-Pekka Salonen und Daniel Harding. In November 2015 Philippe Tondre was nominated Professor for Oboe at the Hochschule für Musik Saar. He gives masterclasses in China, Taiwan, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and Germany. Philippe Tondre plays a Buffet Crampon « Légende » Oboe. ********************************************************************************************************************************************** In this episode, I speak to Philippe about his early musical journey, the key teachers and mentors that had a great influence on him, what studying with Maurice Bourguewas like; his tips for competitions and peak performance, why having active sports and exercise regime is important for wind players, how he toggles between playing in the US and Europe, his upcoming projects, recordings and concerts, the French school of oboe, and his personal tips for young musicians. To find out more about him, visit: http://www.philippetondre.com LOR podcast is sponsored by Barton Cane. To enjoy free shipping, use coupon code, “legendsofreed”, all one word on any order. https://www.bartoncane.com

Synopsis There are some operas which are rarely – if ever – staged, but whose music becomes famous – even wildly popular—in the concert hall. Everyone has heard the overture to Rossini's “William Tell,” for example, but only a few fortunate (or very determined) opera fans ever get to see the whole opera staged. Zoltán Kodály's opera “Háry János” falls into this strange class of works both popular AND obscure. This comic opera debuted at the Royal Hungarian Opera House in Budapest on today's date in 1926 and recounts the adventures of an old veteran of the Napoleonic Wars named “Háry János.” In the village tavern, Háry boasts of his heroic exploits: how he singlehandedly won a battle against Napoleon, for example, and how the Emperor's Wife fell in love with him, and she would have run off with him if he'd wanted, but he chose to remain true to his Hungarian sweetheart back home. You get the idea… Kodály's opera was a hit in Budapest but was not taken up elsewhere. But a concert suite of excerpts from its brilliant score depicting Háry János's imaginary adventures became a popular showpiece for orchestras, an unbeatable combination of great tunes, colorful orchestration, and smile-inducing wit. Music Played in Today's Program Zoltán Kodály (1882 – 1967) — Háry János Suite (Budapest Festival Orchestra; Ivan Fischer, cond.) Philips 462 824

durée : 02:58:45 - Eté Classique Matin - Ce matin, retrouvez ces artistes immenses dans leurs répertoires fétiches : Bach, Brahms, Beethoven et Bartók. Mais aussi Yakov Kasman dans Schnittke ou Matthias Goerne dans Schubert.

"Als je wil inspelen op het profiel van een plek, vereist dat dat je een beetje volgt wat de programmering inhoudt. Ook is het aangewezen om het gesprek aan te gaan - als daar expliciet om gevraagd wordt gaan we weinig gesprekken uit de weg. Dat is het moment, ook al gaat dat maar om een halfuurtje, dat je eventjes uitwisselt, elkaar beter leert kennen, aanvoelt wat de organisator interesseert of in de toekomst aan lijnen of festivals plant. Als je dan een rugzak hebt met een aantal mogelijkheden om in te spelen op wat je hoort kom je toch sneller met een concrete piste." Deze aflevering van Podcast Freelancer gaat over programma's opstellen, netwerken en je identiteit bepalen als artiest. We gaan in gesprek met Jeroen Vanacker, artistiek directeur van het Concertgebouw Brugge, die heel openhartig uitlegt wat hij precies belangrijk vindt bij een programmavoorstel en hoe je als artiest/ensemble een plaatsje kunt veroveren tussen de grote namen. Bekijk ook op YouTube, of beluister op Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, ... Ben je enthousiast en kijk je al uit naar het tweede seizoen? Stort dan nu je bijdrage op BE28 7360 2988 1320 (zie ook www.triotique.be) ———————————————————————————————————— Hosts: Frauke Elsen & Florestan Bataillie Audio & video: Tijl Wellens Met dank aan het Concergebouw Brugge en de Vlaamse Overheid. ———————————————————————————————————— Inhoud: 00:00​​ Intro 01:00 Programmavoorstellen 14:26 Kapsones van artiesten 16:24 Publiekswerking - nieuw publiek 21:29 Coronacrisis & toekomstperspectief 24:47 Intermezzo door Florestan 25:24 Persoonlijke drijfveren 34:36 Publiekswerking - nieuwe muziek 38:58 Belgisch talent 41:30 Dilemma's 42:55 Subsidies & sponsors 44:56 Gouden raad ———————————————————————————————————— Interessante links Concertgebouw Brugge: https://www.concertgebouw.be/ Goran Bregović: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goran_Bregovi%C4%87 Pianist Grigory Sokolov: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Sokolov Podium 19 (VRT): https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/kanalen/podium-19/ Ivan Fischer (dirigent Boedapest Festival Orkest): https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iv%C3%A1n_Fischer 'Goldberg Variations', project van Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker en Pavel Kolesnikov: https://www.rosas.be/en/productions/760-the-goldberg-variations-bwv-988

durée : 01:28:38 - Iván Fischer, chef d'orchestre (5/5) - par : François-Xavier Szymczak - Il vient de fêter ses soixante-dix ans, et s’il n’est pas une superstar, c’est quand même l’un des grands chefs d’orchestre de notre temps. Ivan Fischer est à l’honneur pour cinq émissions dans Arabesques, de Mozart à Bartók, en passant par Gustav Mahler dont il est un interprète toujours inspiré. - réalisé par : Céline Parfenoff

durée : 01:27:52 - Iván Fischer, chef d'orchestre (4/5) - par : François-Xavier Szymczak - Il vient de fêter ses soixante-dix ans, et s’il n’est pas une superstar, c’est quand même l’un des grands chefs d’orchestre de notre temps. Ivan Fischer est à l’honneur pour cinq émissions dans Arabesques, de Mozart à Bartók, en passant par Gustav Mahler dont il est un interprète toujours inspiré. - réalisé par : Céline Parfenoff

durée : 01:28:19 - Iván Fischer, chef d'orchestre (3/5) - par : François-Xavier Szymczak - Il vient de fêter ses soixante-dix ans, et s’il n’est pas une superstar, c’est quand même l’un des grands chefs d’orchestre de notre temps. Ivan Fischer est à l’honneur pour cinq émissions dans Arabesques, de Mozart à Bartók, en passant par Gustav Mahler dont il est un interprète toujours inspiré. - réalisé par : Céline Parfenoff

durée : 01:28:10 - Iván Fischer, chef d'orchestre (2/5) - par : François-Xavier Szymczak - Il vient de fêter ses soixante-dix ans, et s’il n’est pas une superstar, c’est quand même l’un des grands chefs d’orchestre de notre temps. Ivan Fischer est à l’honneur pour cinq émissions dans Arabesques, de Mozart à Bartók, en passant par Gustav Mahler dont il est un interprète toujours inspiré. - réalisé par : Céline Parfenoff

durée : 01:28:29 - Iván Fischer, chef d'orchestre (1/5) - par : François-Xavier Szymczak - Il vient de fêter ses soixante-dix ans, et s’il n’est pas une superstar, c’est quand même l’un des grands chefs d’orchestre de notre temps. Ivan Fischer est à l’honneur pour cinq émissions dans Arabesques, de Mozart à Bartók, en passant par Gustav Mahler dont il est un interprète toujours inspiré. - réalisé par : Vivian Lecuivre

Kirill Karabits has been Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra since 2009 and loves them dearly. We discussed how important having the right agent at the beginning of your career is, what he learned from assisting Ivan Fischer and why conducting Beethoven Symphony No.5 is so bloody hard!

In this week's Interplay, Michael Shapiro talks to Ivan Fischer about his remarkable compositions, many centered in Jewish culture and European Kultur, his background as a renowned Hungarian musician, and the practical experience of the international conductor. www.michaelshapiro.com

Win een fraaie CD door het Budapest Festival Orkest olv Ivan Fischer! Mail het antwoord op de vraag uit welke symfonie van Beethoven dit fragment afkomstig is naar vrijegeluiden@radio4.nl - onder de goede inzendingen wordt de Doorgeef-CD-van-de-Week verloot. En mocht je 'm winnen: na een tijdje weer doorgeven aan iemand anders! Zo verspreiden we het plezier in muziek.

durée : 00:58:54 - Soin et transparence : le Beethoven d'Ivan Fischer - par : Aurélie Moreau - Fondateur de l'Orchestre du Festival de Budapest en 1983 avec son compatriote Zoltan Kocsis, Ivan Fischer a enregistré Beethoven avec cet ensemble qui réunit la fine fleur des jeunes musiciens hongrois. - réalisé par : Bruno Riou-Maillard

durée : 00:57:55 - Richard Goode, un spécialiste de Beethoven - par : Aurélie Moreau - Cet élève de Rudolf Serkin et Mieczysław Horszowski a enregistré une splendide intégrale des Sonates pour piano de Beethoven entre 1983 et 1993. Puis, avec l'Orchestre du Festival de Budapest dirigé par Ivan Fischer, il a gravé les 5 Concertos du maître de Bonn. Deux intégrales de référence. - réalisé par : Bruno Riou-Maillard

durée : 00:58:54 - Soin et transparence : le Beethoven d'Ivan Fischer - par : Aurélie Moreau - Fondateur de l'Orchestre du Festival de Budapest en 1983 avec son compatriote Zoltan Kocsis, Ivan Fischer a enregistré Beethoven avec cet ensemble qui réunit la fine fleur des jeunes musiciens hongrois. - réalisé par : Bruno Riou-Maillard

In this episode, international violin soloist James Ehnes talks about what the essence of mindful instrumental practice is: having a clear goal, work efficiently, listen intently, and connect with others. He elaborates on:​ His artistic journey – growing up in Brandon Manitoba, the practicing habits he developed as a child that helped him succeed, and the mentors that helped shape his career Practicing efficiently – how practicing should be goal oriented, how we should practice practicing, the importance of identifying and analyzing problems Competitions – how they can be beneficial for one's career How we should have a performance mindset while practicing Figuring out how to find balance in our life and career His process to learn a work and to prepare for a performance The importance of developing the skill to truly listen to ourselves objectively while we play How music really addresses our humanity and brings us together Website: http://www.jamesehnes.com/james/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamesehnes/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesehnes/ James' discography: http://www.jamesehnes.com/james/index.php?id=62 His recording of the Aaron Jay Kernis Concerto Beethoven Celebrations – Recital with Andrew Armstrong at Northwestern University on January 13, 2019 David Copperfield by Charles Dickens   Biography James Ehnes has established himself as one of the foremost violinists of his generation. Gifted with a rare combination of stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism and an unfaltering musicality, Ehnes is a favourite guest of many of the world's most respected conductors including Ashkenazy, Alsop, Sir Andrew Davis, Denève, Dutoit, Elder, Ivan Fischer, Gardner, Paavo Järvi, Noseda, Robertson and Runnicles. Ehnes's long list of orchestras includes, amongst others, the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, New York, London Symphony, Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, DSO Berlin and the NHK Symphony orchestras. Ehnes has an extensive discography and has won many awards for his recordings including a Gramophone Award for his live recording of the Elgar Concerto with Sir Andrew Davis and the Philharmonia Orchestra. His recording of the Korngold, Barber and Walton violin concertos won a Grammy Award for ‘Best Instrumental Soloist Performance' and a JUNO award for ‘Best Classical Album of the Year'. His recording of the Paganini Caprices earned him universal praise, with Diapason writing of the disc, “Ehnes confirms the predictions of Erick Friedman, eminent student of Heifetz: ‘there is only one like him born every hundred years'.” Ehnes's recent recording of the Bartók Concerti was nominated for a Gramophone Award in the Concerto category. Recent releases include concertos by Britten, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Khachaturian and sonatas by Debussy, Elgar and Respighi, and his recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Manze will be released in October 2017 (Onyx Classics). Ehnes began violin studies at the age of four, became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin aged nine, made his orchestral debut with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal aged 13 and graduated from The Juilliard School in 1997, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and in 2010 was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada and the Artistic Director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society. James Ehnes plays the "Marsick" Stradivarius of 1715. He currently lives in Bradenton, Florida with his family.   ​ THANK YOU: Most sincere thank you to composer Jim Stephenson who graciously provided the show's musical theme!  Concerto #1 for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra – Movement 2: Allegro con Brio, performed by Jeffrey Work, trumpet, and the Lake Forest Symphony, conducted by Jim Stephenson. Also a huge thank you to producer, Bella Kelly! ​ If you enjoyed the show, please leave a review on iTunes!  I truly appreciate your support! Visit the website and the facebook page for information about past and future podcasts, and for more resources on mindful practice. MIND OVER FINGER: www.mindoverfinger.com https://www.facebook.com/mindoverfinger/

Arnljótur Sigurðsson heimsækir þáttinn með tunglsjúkan tónlistarpakka. Einnig er hugað að Ivani Fischer og tónlist hans, en hann er þekktari sem stjórnandi Budapest Festival Orchestra, sem heimækir Ísland og spilar í Eldborg nk Miðvikudag. Einnig spila í þættinum Glenn Gould, Chuck Berry, Jah Wobble og Berlínarsinfónían, svo einhverjir séu nefndir.

Arnljótur Sigurðsson heimsækir þáttinn með tunglsjúkan tónlistarpakka. Einnig er hugað að Ivani Fischer og tónlist hans, en hann er þekktari sem stjórnandi Budapest Festival Orchestra, sem heimækir Ísland og spilar í Eldborg nk Miðvikudag. Einnig spila í þættinum Glenn Gould, Chuck Berry, Jah Wobble og Berlínarsinfónían, svo einhverjir séu nefndir.

Met het Afrika Festival op de andere zender vroegen we ons af: hoe zit het eigenlijk met de klassieke muziek in Afrika? We vonden muziek van Fodoy Musa Suso, Kevin Volans, en Fred Onovwerosuoke. En daarnaast draaien w o.m. nieuwe CD's met muziek van David Lang, Georg Philip Telemann en Christian Jost. Speellijst: 1. Georg Philipp Telemann: Sonate in a klein voor hobo en bc - Marcel Ponseele & Ensemble Il Gardelino 2. Fodoy Musa Suso: Tilliboyo - Kronos Quartet 3. Kevin Volans: White man sleeps II - Kronos Quartet 4. David Lang: The Little Match Girl Passion Gershon, Grant Los Angeles Master Choral 5. David Lang: the national anthem Gershon, Grant Los Angeles Master Choral & Calder Quartet 6. Fred Onovwerosuoke: Studies in African Rhythm - William Chapman Nyaho 7. Bela Bartok: Contrasten - Chantal Juillet; Michael Collins; & Martha Argerich 8. Christian Jost: Berlin Symphony Konzerthausorchester Berlin o.l.v. Ivan Fischer

I programmet diskuterar panelen bl.a. Glucks opera Orfeus och Euridike med en countertenor som Orfeus samt Scharoun-ensemblen som tolkar Dvoràk. Sofia Nyblom möter dirigenten Franz Welser-Möst. I panelen Bengt Forsberg, Bodil Asketorp och Måns Tengnér som tillsammans med programledaren Johan Korssell betygsätter följande skivor:CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK Orfeus och Euridike Franco Fagioli, Malin Hartelius, Emmanuelle de Negri Accentus, Insula Orchestra Laurence Equilbey, dirigent Archiv 479 5315 ANTONÍN DVORÁK Bagateller op 47, Stråktrio op 74 och Stråkkvintett op 77 Scharoun-ensemblen, Berlin Tudor 7187GUSTAV MAHLER Symfoni nr 4, Tre sånger ur Des Knaben Wunderhorn Lisa Larsson, sopran, Het Gelders Orkest Antonello Manacorda, dirigent Challenge CC 72659ALBÉNIZ GRANADOS Pianokonsert nr 1 a-moll, Spansk rapsodi Pianokonsert c-moll Melani Mestre, piano BBC skotska symfoniorkester Martyn Brabbins, dirigent Hyperion CDA 7918Sofia möter Franz Welser-Möst Sofia Nyblom träffade den österrikiske dirigenten för en pratstund i samband med hans framträdande i Nobelkonserten i Stockholms konserthus, december 2015. Welser-Möst började sin karriär i Sverige som chefsdirigent för Norrköpings symfoniorkester på 1980-talet. Han ledde Wiens filharmoniker under fyra säsonger och avgick efter en schism med ledningen. Cleveland-orkestern däremot är han trogen i rollen som chefsdirigent sedan 14 år tillbaka. Welser-Möst bekände också att han ofta längtar tillbaka till Sverige.  Andra i programmet nämnda eller rekommenderade inspelningar: Mahlers fjärde symfoni med Judith Raskin, Cleveland-orkestern och dirigenten George Szell på Columbia; gossopranen Helmut Wittek och Concertgebouw-orkestern ledda av Leonard Bernstein på DG. Johan rekommenderar Ivan Fischer och Budapests festivalorkester samt sopranen Miah Persson i inspelning på Channel Classics. Dvoráks Stråktrio och Bagateller med Vlach-kvartetten på Praga. Dvoráks Stråkkvintett med stråkar ur Berlins filharmoniker på Philips; Smetana-kvartetten och Josef Suk på Supraphon samt med Uppsala kammarsolister utgiven på Palette. Enrique Granados opera Goyescas Isaac Albéniz Spansk rapsodi med pianisten Miguel Baselga tillsammans med Teneriffas symfoniorkester under ledning av Lü Jia på Bis samt med Alicia de Larrocha och Londons filharmoniker under dirigenten Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos på Decca. Albéniz Pianokonsert med Aldo Ciccolini tillsammans med Londons symfoniorkester och dirigenten Enrique Batiz på skivmärke Regis. Glucks Orfeus och Euridike med Bernarda Fink i Orfeus roll tillsammans med Freiburgs barockorkester ledda av René Jacobs på skivmärket Harmonia Mundi.Johan sveper över en CD med tidiga verk av Henri Dutilleux. Vi serveras ett litet smakprov ur musiken till filmen La Fille du Diable, komponerad 1945-46 och utgiven på Bis.        

Unearth the suspicious tale behind one of Mozart's great masterpieces, the visionary 'Requiem', which will be performed by the Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by Ivan Fischer at the Usher Hall on Tuesday 18 August.

The year 2013 saw plenty of headline-making moments in classical music. Protesters came to the opening night of the Met, while a stagehands strike cancelled the opening night at Carnegie Hall. There were heated debates over women conductors and some complicated celebrations for Richard Wagner. It was another tough year for some orchestras but a good one for Benjamin Britten fans. In this edition of Conducting Business, three experts talk about the past year: Anne Midgette, classical music critic of the Washington Post; Justin Davidson, classical music and architecture critic for New York magazine; and Heidi Waleson, a classical music critic for the Wall Street Journal. High Points: Anne: In the year that Van Cliburn died, Anne was particularly excited to hear the 22-year-old Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov: “Trifonov is a pianist whom I find totally exciting. I hear a lot of great concerts in the course of a year but I find that Trifonov has something really special and is a really interesting artist and somebody I look forward to hearing again and again.” Justin on Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra's staging of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro at the Mostly Mozart Festival: “One of things I really liked about it was it was one of these really portable productions. It was done in a concert hall with the orchestra on stage, no sets, minimal props, costumes that were taken off a clothes rack that was sitting on the stage…With minimal resources they produced one of the most effervescent and inventive productions I’ve seen of that opera. What it said to me is how much you can do with how little.” [Read more of Justin's picks at NYMag.com] Heidi: George Benjamin’s Written on Skin, given its U.S. premiere at Tanglewood in August: “So often you see these new operas and you think, ‘Why did they bother? Why did you turn this movie or this book into an opera?' This was a completely new piece of writing and it had a tension to it from beginning to end. It has a fantastically colorful and intricate orchestration, which includes a solo moment for the viola da gamba." Listen to Written on Skin on Q2 Music   Low Point: The closing of New York City Opera in October after a last-ditch campaign to raise funds for its 2014 season fell through. Anne: “It is not a sign that New York can’t support two opera companies. It is a sign that, due to poor decisions on behalf of the board and a whole sequence of events, this particular thing happened that really didn’t need to happen.” Justin: "One thing that you can take away from that is it is really the product of a classical music and operatic infrastructure that, over the years, got overextended. While we have learned how to expand, trying to do planned shrinkage and figure out how to contract” is tougher for the classical music business. "If you have union contracts and have a season that establishes a kind of baseline, it’s very, very difficult to say ‘we need this to be smaller.’” Heidi: “It was unable to come up with a convincing audience strategy, opera house strategy or even artistic strategy. They did try a few things that I thought were quite interesting – doing for example A Quiet Place, a Leonard Bernstein opera that had never been done in New York… They were in fact trying to reestablish themselves as something that was alternative to the Met, that was a little more forward-looking, and I think it’s really a shame that they couldn’t.” Trends: Anne: The spotlight in 2013 turned to women – women conductors, women composers. “Classical music has proven to have a particularly thick glass ceiling. People are looking at the situation and saying, ‘It’s been years people, why do we still not have very many female conductors on the podium? And when we do, why is it such a big deal?’ There’s still that funny ambivalence about how far we should look at this as a phenomenon and how far we should pretend we’ve all been equal all along.” Justin: The lack of women on major podiums is “a sign of the difficulty that the whole establishment has in adapting at all. What happens is these institutions are very rigid and brittle and when they come up against an obstacle they know that they’re going to splinter and so they avoid the obstacles. It’s a very inflexible set of relationships… Heidi: “The New York Philharmonic seems to be about 50 percent women these days – so why not on the podium?” Justin on the arrival of alternative opera and non-traditional performance venues, as seen in events like the Prototype Festival: “With the cost of real estate in New York, companies are finding cheaper venues and the technology has matured enough so all that you really need is a pretty small room and a fairly minimal investment in machinery to be able to put on a pretty sophisticated multimedia event." Heidi: “There are other organizations doing similar kinds of things: The Gotham Chamber Opera put on a Cavalli opera [Eliogabalo] in a burlesque club... It attracts a different kind of audience. You can break through some of the formality of going to the opera house and sitting in the velvet seat and watching the gold curtain go up."   Surprises: Justin: Caroline Shaw, a 30-year-old New York composer, violinist and singer (right), became the youngest ever winner of the Pulitzer Prize in music for her Partita for 8 Voices (heard at the start of this segment). “It has a quality that almost no contemporary music has, which is joy. It’s something that we’ve forgotten is part of the classical music tradition and an important one.”  Anne: “It’s interesting in that [Shaw] doesn’t even self-identify as a composer but as a violinist. The Pulitzer has been very eager to expand its reach and get outside of the norm of what had been deemed Pulitzer-worthy over the years and I think this is a sign that this is happening.” Heidi on Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s musical of “Fun Home” at the Public Theater: "I see a lot of new operas, and so many of them are overblown, trying so hard that they feel stillborn. 'Fun Home,' based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir, tells the story of a critical juncture in Alison’s life: she came out as a lesbian in college, and several months later, her father, whom she had just found out was a closeted gay man, killed himself by walking in front of a truck. The piece uses music in the way that you wish these new operas would – to deeply explore feelings in a raw, immediate way." (Note: this "bonus pick" did not make it into the podcast.)   Listen to the full discussion above and tell us: what were your high and low points in classical music in 2013? Photo credits: Shutterstock; Caroline Shaw by Piotr Redliński, 2013

Norman Lebrecht meets Hungarian conductor Iván Fischer, who looks back on a career characterised by ground breaking musical achievements and occasional political controversy. Fischer recalls his elite musical education under communism, singing as a boy in the opera house where Gustav Mahler was once director. Being taught by both Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Hans Swarowsky during his studies in Vienna, where he initially set out to become a cellist, gave Fischer a unique musical perspective. He remembers what made both teachers great and how they impacted in his later decision to found The Budapest Festival Orchestra, alongside gifted pianist and countryman Zoltán Kocsis. Fischer describes the jealousy and bad feeling which initially greeted the new orchestra, and why his relationship with Kocsis deteriorated. He talks frankly about his discomfort with Kocsis's perceived closeness to Hungary's rightist political regime, and why he will continue to speak out against it. Iván Fischer has always been musically motivated by change: the desire to alter the status quo and unlock the potential of the musicians he conducts - he speaks passionately about what he sees as the crisis being faced by the modern symphony orchestra, and how they need to be reinvented or face extinction.

Een uitzending waarin de componist Gustav Mahler en met name zijn Vierde Symfonie centraal staat: Amsterdam Ensemble speelt, schrijver Ramsey Nasr draagt voor en dirigent Ivan Fischer vertelt. Verder de van origine Amsterdamse band Klezmokum. Klezmokum Gehard als improviserend musicus in de New Yorkse underground arrangeert avant-gardist Burton Greene de muziek van zijn [...]