Iván Fischer & Budapest Festival Orchestra — Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony, 2022

Live performance of Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the “Unfinished” (D 759), by the Budapest Festival Orchestra under the direction of Iván Fischer, a recording broadcast by DW Classical Music in 2022. An enigmatic work left as just two movements, this symphony ranks among the summits of the Romantic repertoire: its opening Allegro moderato, with themes at once dark and songful, precedes an Andante con moto of unsettling serenity. Under the baton of Iván Fischer, the world-renowned Hungarian conductor and the orchestra’s founder, the ensemble delivers a reading attentive to colour, balance and the dramatic tension so typical of Schubert. This high-definition filmed live recording does justice to the finesse of the sections and the collective breath of an exceptional orchestra. An ideal document for lovers of classical music and filmed symphonic concerts, letting you hear the “Unfinished” in a living, embodied version, far from routine, performed by one of the most esteemed ensembles on the international scene.