Maestro caps a lightning display by unleashing thunderbolts
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Cultural Centre
Final performance
The orchestra played with gusto under its musical director, Ivan Fischer, on Saturday, finishing their Hong Kong trip with a second concert last night.
Though the Budapest Festival Orchestra is one of Europe's younger and less moneyed symphonies (all its performers are, in fact, freelancers), this concert was one of the most impressive in recent months. And what it lacked in ultimate polish (if one were to nit-pick, some crescendos reached the loud end too soon), it succeeded due to Fischer's passionate vision.
This world-renowned conductor proved himself as one of the great Hungarian conducting maestros, with the drama, intensity, strength and sense of purpose he invoked from his assembled performers.