BROWSE THE COMPLETE PROGRAM OF THE BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA'S 2024-2025 SEASON IN OUR ONLINE SEASON BROCHURE OR BY CLICKING THIS LINK.

YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE BFO'S SEASON PASSES HERE.

TUNE INTO THE NEW SEASON WITH A SHORT VIDEO BY THE BFO!

In the last year the Budapest Festival Orchestra has given more concerts and completed more tours than ever before. The upcoming 2024–2025 season is going to keep this momentum. The season's musical program offers music as a point of reference in an increasingly unpredictable world. In the words of Iván Fischer: "music history is a treasure trove of humanist values. Inspired by this, our mission is to respond, argue and demonstrate alternatives, so that we can remind people of the values of peace, good sense, and tolerance."

Alongside the BFO's growing international presence, it remains the orchestra of the expansive Hungarian cultural community and the Hungarian capital, adds Orsolya Erdődy, managing director. "This year will mark the ten-year anniversary of our community weeks. In the spring and the fall, we'll bring the joy of music to schools, churches, synagogues, and nursing homes. As a celebratory start to the new season, on August 31, we invite the city to a free outdoor concert in Heroes' Square once again."

Commedia dell’arte, Mahler double bill, and a joint Europe

Customarily, the 2024–2025 BFO season in the concert hall kicks off with the premiere of an opera: Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne on Naxos) by Richard Strauss. The titular role is performed by Emily Magee, described by The New York Times as a “richly resonant soprano”. Iván Fischer fulfills the dual role of conductor and co-director, bringing the opera to the stage jointly with the outstanding actress and commedia dell’arte specialist Chiara D'Anna. The opera is going to debut in Spoleto in the summer of 2024, to be followed by fall performances in Müpa Budapest, and a turn at the Vicenza Opera Festival.

The metaphorical arches of the Bridging Europe festival, jointly run with Müpa Budapest, will be linking Budapest with the notion of Europe and its cultural community itself this season. The BFO will be giving a joint concert with the European Union Youth Orchestra. This concert sees the debut of one of Iván Fischer's own compositions: Ukrainian-born Diana Tischchenko will be performing the violin solo at the Hungarian premiere of his Dance Suite.

Iván Fischer is going to conduct two Mahler symphonies in the 2024–25 season: the monumental Symphony No. 2, and the notable Symphony No. 5, featuring the famous Adagietto. He continues his large-scale conductor cycles with Brahms' Symphony No. 1 and Dvořák's Symphony No. 7.

Guests from all over the globe

The 2024–2025 season will see acclaimed, inspiring, and distinctive conductors joining the ensemble once again. Jakub Hrůša is going to conduct an entirely Czech program, and we'll also welcome back Andrés Orozco-Estrada and Robin Ticciati. Gábor Takács-Nagy will be continuing his inexhaustible Haydn–Mozart series, this time including Mozart's Symphony in G minor (“Great”). The season's two baroque concerts also promise to be memorable, with the living legend of early music, Jordi Savall, and the most versatile and outstanding figure of the baroque violin, Midori Seiler at the helm as artistic directors.

The season's soloists also represent the finest in international concert productions. Igor Levit, the concert pianist who "is like no other pianist", according to the New Yorker, will be performing all five of Prokofiev's piano concertos on three consecutive nights, converting his turn as a guest performer into a mini festival. Kirill Gerstein performs Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1, while Francesco Piemontesi presents Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Renaud Capuçon will be playing his 1737 Guarnieri violin to bring the deep and nuanced tones of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor to life.

The tried and tested season pass offer is still available

The BFO restructured its season pass offering for the anniversary season. Based on the spectacular success of the new scheme, the 10-tier structure will remain in the new season. You can still purchase season passes exclusively for performances at the Liszt Academy or at Müpa Budapest, but they still offer the popular mixed passes, as well. The Doráti and Solti passes continue to include all performances at Müpa Budapest, while the Ormándy pass covers all concerts at the Liszt Academy. The Cocoa Concert, Storytime with Iván, and Midnight Music series will also continue.

Exceptionally tuned: The cover star musicians of the season brochure

The BFO illustrated the new season brochure with special portraits depicting seven musicians. The international success that the orchestra achieved on Hungarian soil is largely due to the exceptional performance of musicians who should be featured on magazine covers. The BFO has actually created these magazine covers: the stars gracing the fictional publications featured in the brochure are violinists Ágnes Biró, Eszter Lesták Bedő, Balázs Bujtor, and István Kádár, harpist Ágnes Polónyi, clarinet player Ákos Ács, and trumpet player Gergely Csikota. The cover photos were taken by fashion photographer Márk Viszlay. The entire collection can be viewed in this gallery.

Season passes go on sale for the general public on April 3rd.