Building Europe through music
Iván Fischer is a conductor, composer, opera director, thinker and educator, anchored in the tradition of the great musical polymaths. He is considered one of the most visionary musicians of our time. His focus is always the music, and to this end he has developed several new concert formats and reformed the structure and working method of the symphony orchestra. In the mid-1980s he founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra, where he has since introduced and established numerous innovations. He envisions a pool of musicians serving the community in various combinations and musical styles. He has founded a number of festivals, including the Budapest Mahlerfest, the Bridging Europe festival and the Vicenza Opera Festival. The World Economic Forum presented him with the Crystal Award for his achievements in fostering international cultural relations.
You created the Budapest Festival Orchestra in the 1980’s. Why did you create a festival orchestra and why is the Budapest Festival Orchestra still special today? Do you consider the Budapest Festival Orchestra as a European, rather than mainly a Hungarian, orchestra?
At first we played a few concerts every year, with great care and a festive spirit. So the name “Festival” was a logical choice then. After 9 years, in 1992, the city of Budapest decided to give us a very modest subsidy. It was just enough to employ the musicians full time, so they left their jobs and came to us. We had to decide to keep or to change the name. The disadvantage of being called Festival Orchestra was that it was misleading for a full-time ensemble. But, after many discussions, we decided to keep the name because the orchestra had already a strong brand and because we considered the word festival a fitting and beautiful idea to express our goal – that we want each concert to be “festive”, and we want to avoid an every-day routine.
From day one, this orchestra has been special, completely different than the usual symphony orchestras all over the world. The Budapest Festival Orchestra has a unique mentality and way of music making. Musicians don’t play as if it is a job, they play like creative artists. It feels like an overgrown string quartet. This was the original purpose, and it has never changed.
We are both Hungarian and European. I would say that the Hungarian culture is extremely European because it has been influenced by many other nations. We integrated the Viennese style from the days of Austria-Hungary, we had a lot of Russian violin teachers, musical influences from Gipsy music and the folklore of the Balkans.
In terms of programming, do you only do classic repertoire, or do you also look for contemporary work and, if so, what do you find the most interesting at the moment?
We play a wide repertoire. The orchestra even has a baroque ensemble playing on original instruments. Besides the normal symphony orchestra repertoire, we have contemporary ensembles, one that specialises in Hungarian folk music, we integrate jazz and contemporary work. Next year, I will start with a workshop of improvised music. Our repertoire is extremely broad. Unfortunately, we cannot show it much on tour because international concert presenters want to be safe, and ask for well-known concertos and symphonies.
I understand why; they are dependent on ticket sales. But at home we have developed a trust with our audiences. Sometimes we organise surprise concerts for them without an announced programme. It draws full houses.
You are described as a great polymath musician. According to you, what are the connections you see between arts, science, and philosophy, especially at the musical level?
Audiences have two attitudes. They like to hear familiar works and they are curious for new compositions. So, we serve our European canon and we offer new creations. There is a major problem regarding the purpose, why we make music. Before the French revolution music served the aristocracy by creating and practicing “taste”, “bon goût”. After, Beethoven music became an expression of the human soul, closely linked to other art forms, which tried to give answers to the questions among the educated class. In this generation “Bildung” was the norm, the purpose of life. Museums, theatres and concert halls became temples of this educated society. Now, after the two World Wars, a classless society has emerged for whom “Bildung” means much less. Some come to concerts because they love it, others, because they hope to belong to an elite, others hope to be entertained. We have to admit that an orchestra is a leftover and it needs to find its new purpose. We are searching for it all the time.
You’ve been appointed recently as Music Director of the European Union Youth Orchestra. Why did you want to assume this position and what is your vision?
Youth orchestras are lovely because the players are not jaded yet. I want to inject lasting enthusiasm and responsibility into this young generation. We need people who live for music instead of those who live from music.
You have just completed your first summer residency with the European Union Youth Orchestra. What are your first impressions of working with young talented musicians?
First, I need to open their ears so they hear the whole orchestra. It is easy to hear your section or the musicians sitting near you. But a high quality orchestra starts when the horn players hear the violas and react to them. At first I found them too conventional: following their section principals. So in the last concerts I stirred up the whole orchestra, mixed sections, asked everybody to sit somewhere else. The result was great.
Can you tell us more about the project of the European Orchestra Academy? What synergies do you see between the European Union Youth Orchestra and the Budapest Festival Orchestra?
This is a great new plan, I am very enthusiastic about it. The idea is that, after spending a few periods with the European Union Youth Orchestra, the best, carefully selected ones join the European Orchestra Academy, a joint project of the two orchestras. We will do much more than the usual orchestra academies. As well as playing regularly with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the young musicians will tour all over Europe with chamber music projects; play in hospitals, retirement homes, jails, schools, help local students and amateurs. They will serve the musical life of each Member State outside the concert halls. They will learn how to make music available to those who need it. We want to educate the future European orchestra leaders with a different mentality. They will learn how to serve the society.
What’s your vision about modernising classical music in the upcoming century, whether in musical terms and accessibility to new audiences, or diversity, equity and inclusion? Which roles can festivals play in this?
I wish that festivals would play more active roles. They should offer a lot of music in and, more important, outside concert halls – find those who need music, who want their questions answered by music. Music has a very important role in our time. For example, next week we give a concert, “Plea For Peace” in Budapest in which Ukrainian, Russian, Arab and Israeli musicians play together. Because I firmly believe that music helps in the difficult process of making peace. Festivals that only care about maintaining the European canon, are meaningless. Festivals need to give answers.
In the political context of Hungary and Europe, what are the challenges and opportunities you face in your day-to-day work?
I think the European Union is making a huge mistake by saying that culture should be financed by member states or cities. Music and all the arts reach people’s hearts and could offer fantastic help for European integration. We live in a transitional time, from Nation States to larger units like Europe. Music is European because it has an international language and musicians mix everywhere. So, I think music life should be reorganised. It is wrong that orchestras represent nations which we want to overcome. Let us move on! Music institutions should be financed by the EU, which they really serve. The various EU programmes, like Creative Europe or Erasmus+ are far too bureaucratic and rigid. Only projects win support from these schemes, which fit exactly the rigid priorities. For example, our European Academy has also been rejected because we developed what is really good for the European people instead of what fits those rigid priority points. The EU needs to change its cultural policy. If they want Europe to be united, it should accept the help of the artists, who truly serve integration, tolerance and modernisation. I hope somebody who creates those over-bureaucratic points, reads these thoughts.
Interview by Audrey Brisack and Simon Mundy
Festival Life creates shared moments of audiences and artists, eye-to-eye
