Iván Fischer - up to 20% off

“The opening moments of this disc leave no doubt that it’s going to be enormous fun, and from a virtuoso orchestra with a superb conductor. Surely the opening flourish of the Overture to The Silken Ladder has never been delivered with such precision and panache. Can Rossini have imagined any of this music would receive such impeccable performances?” BBC Music Magazine, February 2009 *****

“The highlights of this collection are the Budapest players' vividly released accounts of the rarely recorded wind and string Serenata and the two youthful sets of variations for assorted soloists and small orchestra. …engaging and stylish performances...” Gramophone Magazine, March 2009

“Performances throughout brim over with quicksilver wit and silky panache, the featured Budapest soloists eloquently illustrating the strength in depth of this fine orchestra in its third decade. On the whole, Fischer's tempi are winningly fleet and vivacious, and always vividly recorded.” Michael Quinn, bbc.co.uk, 6th February 2009

“Fischer… offers a sparkling performance of the popular overture to Rossini's The Italian Girl in Algiers, and his account of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony is impressive, with the major-mode episodes of the famous second movement warm and glowing, and the Dionysiac finale tremendously exciting.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2008 *****

“Fischer and his players romp through the finale like devils possessed, pausing only when strings wrestle for supremacy.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2008

“As a totality, the disc is consequently bitty, but the performance of the Seventh ranks, without question, among the greatest ever recorded. With the Budapest Festival Orchestra playing as if their lives depended on it, it's superbly articulated, thrillingly elated and emotionally exhausting. Weber, on first hearing the work, wondered whether its composer was insane, and for once you understand why. Utterly compelling.” The Guardian, 18th April 2008 *****