The Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by Iván Fischer gave a marvellous concert at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival together with the Trinidadian soprano, Jeanine De Bique. A critical review by Susan Stempleski, Classical Source.
A glowing account of Haydn’s exuberant and alluring Symphony 88 opened. With Iván Fischer in complete control the playing was precise, nuanced and perfectly balanced, the music emerging with clarity and elegance. In the celebratory Allegro the agile strings and colorful woodwinds offered an open-spirited release after the gentle and halting Adagio opening. The melodious Largo – with some wonderfully graceful and intimate oboe- and cello-playing in the opening theme and suitably jarring eruptions by trumpets and timpani – provided the most resplendent moments, and the detailed reading of the nimbly executed Finale was a constant pleasure.
