Iván Fischer/ Budapest Festival Orchestra
Rocca Brancaleone, Ravenna, 1st July 2020
The Budapest Festival Orchestra has had a busier lockdown than most. Every member has taken part in its “Quarantine soirées”, streamed chamber recitals often introduced by Iván Fischer himself, occasionally accompanied by his pet tortoise, Pandora. Tuesday saw the 77th and final soirée for now because a reduced BFO (36 players) then hit the road again for a mini-European tour taking in Ravenna and Ingolstadt. With Italy emerging from lockdown, open-air events are permitted with small audiences, allowing the Ravenna Festival to proceed in a revised programme largely based at the mighty Rocca Brancaleone, a 15th-century Venetian fortress.
Anna Prohaska, Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra
© Zani-Casadio
Click here to read the full review on Bachtrack.