Iván Fischer in conversation with Stephan Koncz (18 min.)

For his concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker in October 2016, conductor Iván Fischer programmed the famous Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta by his fellow Hungarian Béla Bartók alongside works by Enescu and Mozart. The composition, commissioned by the Swiss conductor and patron Paul Sacher, is one of the highlights of musical Modernism and combines rhythmic vitality and sophisticated construction with the masterly and innovative use of folklore references. Cellist Stephan Koncz, who has been a member of the Philharmoniker since 2010 and comes from an Austro-Hungarian family, asks Fischer here about his experiences with Béla Bartók’s music, Fischer’s own compositions, and his memories of the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt who died in March 2016.