The National Symphony Orchestra officially welcomes Iván Fischer as its new principal guest conductor in a program with something for every music lover. The founder of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Fischer is in demand worldwide as a guest conductor with major orchestras and opera companies. His acceptance of the NSO position promises to be a congenial and productive partnership.
Speaking from Amsterdam, he says, “I look forward to working with the National Symphony Orchestra. I have an excellent memory of the orchestra when I was a guest conductor in Washington and I welcome the continuity you get in such an arrangement.
“For the debut program, I chose all of the works very carefully. ‘Einstein’s Violin’ by American composer Robert Henderson was a symbolic choice because the NSO has done so much toward promoting American music.
In “The Dances of Galanta,” a commission from the Budapest Philharmonic in 1933, Zoltan Kodály paid tribute to his native Hungary and the gypsy dances used to recruit young men into the army during the 18th century. The other works Fischer has chosen for this melodic program are “Valse Triste” by Sibelius, Slavonic Dance in C major by Dvorák, the Second Waltz Sequence from “Der Rosenkavalier” by Strauss, and the Second Symphony by Brahms.
Fisher returns to Washington the first week of February for an all-Mendelssohn program, inspired by the Shakespeare in Washington Festival, and his first NSO Children’s Concert.
My father felt it was important that we all receive an intense cultural education,” he says. “At 8, I received my favorite birthday gift, a subscription to the opera. This joy in music was typical for our family.”
Fischer’s childhood joy carries over to his expertise at involving both children and adults in music. In Budapest he is famous for his “cocoa concerts” that lure children ages five to ten, and his “secret concerts” for adults.
“Each community thinks differently, but those are concepts I might consider for Washington at some time in the future,” he says. “Many people in Budapest have season subscriptions and look forward to the ‘secret concerts’ because they like to receive gifts and surprises.”
National Symphony
National Symphony Orchestra, conduced by Iván Fischer, performs at 7 p.m. today and Friday, and 8 p.m. Saturday.
Venue: Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Tickets: $20 to $80
More info: (202) 467-4600 or www.kennedy-center.org
