Iván Fischer is the youngest in a long line of important conductors to spring from the rich musical soil of Hungary. Fritz Reiner, George Szell, Istvan Kertesz and Georg Solti are among his illustrious predecessors. Like them, his first successes were outside his native land. Unlike most of this list, Fischer was able to return to Hungary to participate in the cultural renaissance which began in the 1980's and accelerated with the end of Communist rule.

Fischer went to Vienna in the 1970's to study at the Conservatory with the legendary Hans Swarowsky. He also had a keen interest in early music (unusual for a mainstream conductor at the time) and sought out Nikolaus Harnoncourt for instruction as well.

Fischer won a conducting competition at the age of twenty-five and his career began quickly. He was soon leading concerts by the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, London Symphony, New York Philharmonic and Cleveland Orchestras.

However, he felt something was missing in this fast-paced international career and he found the ingredients for his own true musical voice back home in Budapest. He formed his own orchestra. The Budapest Festival Orchestra. It has gone on to international acclaim in the few short years of its existence and has been recording regularly for the Universal labels since1995.

Budapest Festival Orchestra discs have consistently captured the top international awards and now Iván Fischer enjoys fame both home and abroad as his conducting career neatly spans both opera house and orchestral work both with his own orchestra and with the major ensembles and opera houses of the world.