[last tickets] Budapest Festival Orchestra & Iván Fischer

Welcome to the 19th edition of Klarafestival! The theme Crossroads - Come Together keenly evokes the convergence of the audience, the artists and their inspiring concerts. A meeting place where the leading lights of international classical music enter into dialogue with challenging creations and young talent. 

The inspiration for this edition comes from festival artist Claron McFadden. As she told us in an interview, “I stand at a crossroads where styles and generations cross, meet, and collide”. This notion forms the core of the programme. We hope you will enjoy Klarafestival as a sanctuary of hope, polyphony and beauty in all its forms. As a place where the familiar takes on new meaning and where new experiences take you by surprise. 

Jan Raes, chairman

Joost Fonteyne, intendant

Chantal Pattyn, manager Klara

(Com)passion for our time

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote music in just about every shape and form, but not a single opera. However, during the baroque era, this was one of the most important and prestigious musical genres. It was common practice for all his prominent contemporaries – Händel, Telemann and Vivaldi among them. Some commentators see this abstinence as a sign of Bach’s deeply religious nature and his antipathy for music as entertainment. But it could be that it was simply a by-product of the course his career was taking him. His successive positions allowed him little opportunity to compose opera. He began as an organist in various churches, and the courts of Weimar and Köthen where he subsequently worked had no provision for opera. In Leipzig, where Bach held his final post, the opera house had just closed. That Bach wrote no operas does not imply that he had no talent for the theatre or for musical drama. Prior to his official appointment as Thomascantor in Leipzig, the city authorities had him sign a declaration in which he promised never to write music that was too operatic (‘opernhaft’) in nature, music which might lead the listener to impure thoughts.

What would this venerable body have made of the St Matthew Passion?    

Identical twin

The St Matthew Passion is an oratorio, the baroque twin sister of opera. In a musical sense, it is an identical twin. In both genres, the narrative is contained in the recitatives and the arias allow time for a pause and reflection. To express emotions – more properly described in baroque as ‘affects’ – both opera and oratorio composers use similar musical resources. The heartbreaking aria for soprano, ‘Aus Liebe’, from the St Matthew Passion, accompanied by a single flute, could equally be the lament of a weary Antigone or a lovesick Dido. And when Orpheus wished to placate the gods of the underworld to release his Eurydice, he could with equal success have sung the superb ‘Erbarme dich’ from the St Matthew Passion. And what of the chilling scene of Christ’s arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, with the poignant duet for soprano and alto which ends in a violent storm for chorus and orchestra (Sind Blitze sind Donner’)? Did anyone just say ‘Rameau’? In no way is Bach’s drama any less potent than that of the most adept opera composers of his time.

Spot the differences

There are also, however, striking differences with opera. In Bach’s Passions, there is always a narrator present: the evangelist. Despite his title, we sometimes forget that he has a name: Matthew. He is in fact the crucial librettist of the work, because Bach and his lyricist Christian Friedrich Henrici, alias Picander, quote verbatim the account of Christ’s passion in the Gospel According to St. Matthew. The additional texts, for arias and chorus, were written by Picander.     

In addition, just as in Händel’s oratoria, a large share goes to the chorus. In the St Matthew Passion there are moreover two choruses, each with its own orchestra. They assume various roles: from ‘Daughters of Zion’ to disciples, high priests and ‘the people’. And there are the numerous chorales, old Lutheran hymns that would have been familiar to the churchgoers of Leipzig. It is assumed that churchgoers would have joined in the singing of these chorales, although Bach’s complex harmonisations would not have been plain sailing. The listener’s participation is nevertheless a fundamental factor in the St Matthew Passion, because, unlike Händel, whose oratoria were performed in London theatres before a paying public, Bach’s passions fulfilled a liturgical function. They took place during the Good Friday vesper service, with an extended sermon between the first and second vespers. It must have been a long sitting for the good folk of Leipzig.

Topical and universal

We do Bach an injustice if we categorise his celebrated Passion-Oratorio as an opera for the church. No opera – with the possible exception of Wagner’s Ring cycle – has had such an impact, generated so much literature and knows such a rich and diverse interpretative history as Bach’s St Matthew Passion. It is often suggested that its ‘message’ is still relevant. For Christians this can literally be the case. But what about the numerous non-believers or those of other faiths, who listen, often in the secular context of a concert hall, or even in a staged or choreographed version? Clearly, the great attraction of the work does not lie in those theological principles that were the guidelines for Bach and Picander. Along with the Lam Gods by the Van Eyck brothers or the plays of Shakespeare, the St Matthew Passion belongs to that category of works of art whose expressiveness transcends the specific place, time and circumstances of its creation.   

Compassion

This makes Iván Fischer’s undertaking all the clearer. For him, Bach’s passion is an exercise in compassion. Just as Bach and Picander did with the original, at carefully chosen moments Fischer pauses the story of Jesus’ sufferings for reflection. When doing so, he selects music by present-day oppressed minorities. Repertoire and artists of this project were selected only months before the performance, in light of – or should that be in dark of? –  the present political situation. Alas, he did not have far to look, especially when we approach the historical place of Jesus’ passion, today one of the world’s most troubled regions. The dramatic scene in the Garden of Gethsemane is introduced by the Arabic oud, a distant ancestor of the lute. When Jesus’ disciples finally desert him, we hear Kaddisch, one of the Two Hebrew Songs by Maurice Ravel in a version for solo violin. And immediately after Jesus’ death, the children’s chorus sings a multi-voice Yiddish farewell song arranged by Fischer: Sait Gezunt.  

Fischer’s Compassion is not an adaptation or update of the St Matthew Passion. It is an extension, a continuation of Bach’s masterpiece, that is not only meant to evoke dreams and euphoria. It is a work that appeals to our deepest humanity and thereby fulfils the requirements of its commissioners in calling for ‘devoted attention’. Where exactly do we stand? Do we fall asleep when Jesus asks us to stand by him? Do we run away when he is placed under arrest? Do we stand with the mob screaming ‘Crucify him, crucify him’? The Leipzig governors may sleep soundly.      

Jan Van den Bossche, translated by Patrick Goddard

Budapest Festival Orchestra

The Budapest Festival Orchestra is the youngest orchestra in the global top 10 of symphony orchestras. It was founded in 1983 by Zoltán Kocsis and Iván Fischer, who has remained its permanent conductor ever since. In addition to its home base in Budapest, the BFO regularly plays at the leading international concert halls. It is not only known for excellent classical concerts, but also experiments with alternative concert forms, such as concerts for young children, surprise concerts without an announced programme and large-scale open-air concerts. In addition, the orchestra annually produces opera productions that have been performed at various international opera festivals.

Iván Fischer

The Hungarian conductor Iván Fischer is one of the most important figures in the international music world. In addition to being a conductor and composer, he is (co)founder and artistic director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra and of festivals such as the Budapest Mahlerfest, the Bridging Europe Festival and the Vicenza Opera Festival. Fischer was chief conductor at the National Symphony Orchestra Washington, the Opéra National de Lyon and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and has worked as a guest conductor with, among others, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. The World Economic Forum awarded Fischer the Crystal Award for his role in strengthening international cultural relations.

Anna-Lena Elbert

The German soprano Anna-Lena Elbert studied at the Hochschüle für Musik und Theater Munich, where she specialised in the Lieder repertoire. Her career now encompasses repertoire from the Renaissance to the present day and she has worked with orchestras such as the Hofkapelle Stuttgart, Berliner Barock Solisten and Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música. As an opera singer she has performed at the Opernfestspiele Heidenheim, the Bayerische Staatsoper and the Salzburg Festival, to name a few. In 2019, she became a laureate of both the Richard Strauss Wettbewerb and the Helmut Deutsch Liedwettbewerb with pianist Kota Sakugachi. She has given Lieder recitals at the Schubertíada in Vilabertran, at the Beethovenhaus Bonn and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

Olivia Vermeulen

The repertoire of the Dutch mezzo-soprano Olivia Vermeulen ranges from the Baroque to the 20th and 21st centuries. She has performed on various international stages, including the Berliner Staatsoper, the Opéra National de Paris, Opernhaus Zürich, the Dutch National Opera, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and the Ruhrtriennale. She has worked with conductors such as René Jacobs, Philippe Herreweghe, Jordi Savall, Marek Janowski and Daniel Harding and with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Freiburger Barockorchester, Berliner Philharmoniker, NHK Symphony Orchestra and Ensemble Modern. She has sung roles in opera premieres by Thomas Larcher and Philippe Manoury and premiered songs by Wolfgang Rihm.

Nicholas Mulroy

British tenor Nicholas Mulroy is a sought-after singer on the concert and opera circuit. He has sung at various international concert halls such as the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, and the Berliner Philhamonie. He has also appeared on opera stages such as the Opéra Garnier, Opéra de Lille, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the Salzburg Festival. He regularly gives recitals at Wigmore Hall, where he has sung songs by Purcell, Schubert and Britten. In addition to being a singer, Mulroy is artistic director of the Cambridge University Chamber Choir and associate director of the baroque ensemble Dunedin Consort, which he has led in various productions.

Hanno Müller-Brachmann

The German bass-baritone Hanno Müller-Brachmann was part of the permanent opera ensemble of the Berliner Staatsoper from 1998 to 2011, where he sang repertoire roles in operas by Wagner, Verdi and Bizet as well as world premieres by Elliott Carter and Pascal Dusapin. As a concert singer he has worked with conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Lorin Maazel and Vladimir Jurowski and orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. He is also active as a Lieder singer and has contributed to numerous CD recordings, working with conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Philippe Herreweghe, Pierre Boulez and Claudio Abbado.

Taiseer Elias 

Taiseer Elias is a composer, violinist and oud player. He completed a PhD in musicology on Arabic classical music and also performs this repertoire with various ensembles. In addition, as a soloist, he has played arrangements of Western classical music and contemporary composers such as Michael Wolpe, Joel Hoffman and Miriam Gerberg have written concertos tailored to Elias and his oud. He has collaborated with musicians such as Paco De Lucia, Isaac Stern, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ravi Shankar and Itzhak Perlman. Elias founded the first orchestra for Arabic classical music in Israel and he is also known for conducting the Israeli-Andalusian Orchestra of Ashdod and the Arab-Jewish Youth Orchestra. 

Daniel Bard 

Violinist Daniel Bard has made a name for himself in both chamber and orchestral music. He is co-founder of the piano trio Trio Mondrian, which was active between 2007 and 2019, and of the Israeli Chamber Project. With Trio Mondrian he won first prize at the international chamber music competition Premio Trio di Trieste in 2007 and performed at venues such as Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Teatro La Fenice. Bard is also passionate about the chamber orchestra: from 2009 to 2017 he was first violinist of Amsterdam Sinfonietta and in 2017 he became concertmaster of Kammerorchester Basel. He has recently begun appearing regularly as concertmaster with Iván Fischer's Budapest Festival Orchestra.

Roopa Panesar

Roopa Panesar is regarded as one of the best sitar players of the UK Indian classical music scene. She plays Indian music as well as jazz and Western classical music and has gone on several tours through Europe, India and the US. At the age of seven, she started playing the sitar with Ustad Dharambir Singh, one of the most renowned sitar players and teachers in the United Kingdom. Later she perfected her skills with Indian masters such as Shahid Parvez, Budhaditya Mukherjee and Bahauddin Dagar. Panesar has released three solo albums and has performed at festivals including the Darbar Festival in London and World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD).

Cantemus Mixed Voice Choir

Most members of the Cantemus Mixed Voice Choir are university students or working professionals who all share a common interest for singing. The choir was founded by Dénes Szabó and initially came together only for special occasions. In 1998, it began to work independently under the baton of Soma Szabó. Since its foundation, the choir has won several international choir competitions, taken part in leading festivals and undertaken concert tours in Europe. Cantemus Mixed Voice Choir performs repertoire from the times of the Renaissance to contemporary music. The choir’s first CD recording,  published in 2006, was a performance of the complete Vespers by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Equinox

The non-profit organisation Equinox was founded in 2012 by the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel under the impetus of pianist Maria João Pires, and now supports five different children's choirs. The organisation is committed to the musical development of children from socially vulnerable groups, such as children with disabilities, children from socio-economically or culturally disadvantaged groups and children from conflict areas. By offering them a quality musical education, Equinox hopes to teach these children skills such as patience, concentration, critical thinking and collaboration, thus promoting equal opportunities through music.

Zeno Popescu

Zeno Popescu is a Romanian tenor and choir conductor. He studied voice at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel with José Van Dam. As a soloist he has performed at La Monnaie, the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Bozar, Flagey and various concert halls abroad. Since 2013 he has been conductor of the children's choir of Equinox, a social-artistic project run by the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel. In 2014 he founded the choral organisation Singing Molenbeek, with which he enables various school choirs in Molenbeek to work with professional coaches. Since 2019, Popescu has also conducted the PREP Choirs of the Flagey Academy, in which more than 400 primary school children take part.