Some things never go out of fashion. It’s two centuries or more since the passion for Hungarian gypsy music swept over the musical world, inspiring the greatest composers from Haydn to Liszt. On Thursday night, that tradition of “classical” gypsy music came roaring back to life, in this hugely enjoyable Prom from the Budapest Festival Orchestra. The critical review of The Telegraph.
The orchestra’s conductor, Iván Fischer, knows full well that the gypsy style as reimagined by classical composers was always a bit kitschy. But he loves the tradition anyway, and in this Prom decided to show it off. The pieces he and the orchestra offered were well-known Hungarian dances and rhapsodies by Brahms, Liszt and Sarasate, but Fischer made them seem startlingly new, spicing them up with impromptu additions from three invited soloists.
