Never should there be a worse start to the year: the first concert in January 2012 was given by the "passionately adored" Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Sir Neville Marriner. As our critic put it, "the freshness of the mind of the British ’wonder-boy’, who turned 88 in April, was evidenced by his manner of controlling the musical process: with great ease and yet with firm hands."  However, there were more problems with the chamber orchestra, it was the interplay between musicians, the orchestral performance that left something to be desired. "There were some really problematic performances, mostly in the brass section (in the first piece on the programme, then in the New World Symphony, constituting the second part of the concert). Nevertheless, the overall impression was favourable from the outset." The flagship event in February was the Mozart Marathon of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, with the appearance of Ferenc Rados. According to our critic "Ferenc Rados is the perfect contrast to what we expect a star pianist to be like nowadays. There is absolutely no sign of self-confidence in his appearance, he timidly stumbles onto the podium and nods to the audience with no smile on his face. As if he was nervous. Then he misses the right key, not many times, but he does. … However, what he can create in spite of all these circumstances is a miracle. Performing art of the highest standard." The spring wind blew musicians here in March such as Esa-Pekka Salonen and Maxim Vengerov, who came with his violin, his student, and what is more, with his baton. And we saw and heard Charles Dutoit with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with Kristóf Baráti as their soloist. Not to mention the concert conducted by Kobayashi-Ken Ichiro! For the full article, please click on the following link: http://fidelio.hu/klasszikus/magazin/melyik_volt_az_ev_klasszikus_koncertje_2012