Born in Budapest on September 9, 1949, Adam
Fischer brought up in a musical family. His family had lived in an apartment just in front
of the Budapest Opera House. Adam and his younger brother Ivan belonged the children
choir of Budapest National Opera house. where he sang many of famous opera works such as
"Carmen" or "Boris Godonov". He and his brother sang three boys
of Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte".
After studying piano and composition at Bartok
Conservatory, in order to deepen his conducting studies, he moved to Vienna and
leaned from famous teacher Hans Swarowsky. Excellently
with the first price of the Milan Centelli Competition, he was engaged to Graz and
Karlsruhe as well as as a general music director of Friburg. Quickly he became popular in Hamburg and Munich
where he conducted a production of "Fidelio" of Karl Böhm at the Bavarian State
Opera, which led again to a new production of Dvoraks "Rusalka" with Hildegard
Behrens. Since then he has appeared at many
large European operas houses. He made a debut
in 1984 at the Paris Opera ("Der Rosenkavalie") and in 1986 at la Scala, Milan
("Die Zauberflöte").
Between 1987 and 1992 he was the general music director in Kassel.
In parallel he also developed his concert carrier. In the middle of the '70s Adam Fischer
collaborated closely with the Helsinki Philharmonic and since then he directed many
European orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony Orchestra,
Orchestre de Paris, the London Philharmonic, the Philharmonia as well as the Royal
Philharmonic. In 1984 for the first time he
appeared in Japan, where he frequently returns since then. He conducted the Tokyo
Metropolitan Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Hungarian State symphony Orchestra. Remarkable debuts in the past were the work with
the Dresden Philharmonic, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, and the Tonhalle orchestra
Zurich. Adam Fischer's America debut was in
1981 at San Francisco Opera ("Don Giovanni"). The
same year he directed also a new production of "Macbeth" at the Chicago Lyric
Opera. His most important concert debut in
the US was in March 1984 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and further invitations of
Tanglewood and to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In
the autumn of the same year, he led the USA-tour of the Hungarian State Symphony
Orchestra, which he conducted
in Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit and Toronto as well as in Ottawa and Atlanta. Since 1992 he has appeared the New York Mostly Mozart
festival four times. He made a debut at
Hollywood Bowl conducting the opening performance of 1999 season
and further invitation in 2001 season.
Adam Fischer, began his long collaboration with
the Vienna State Opera in 1973 and since then there he directed many new productions, such
as, "Die Verkaufte Braut" (1982), "Manon" (1983),
"Cavalleria rusticana" / "I Pagliacci" and "Maria Stuarda"
(both 1985). Further performances were
"Fidelio", "Die Fledermaus", "Otello", "Lucia di
Lammemoor" and "Cosi fan tutte". His
future engagement including "Der Ring des Nibelung" and the revival production
of "Andrea Chenire" with Placido Domingo in 2002/2003 season.
He made a debut in 1989 at the Royal Opera House
("Die Fledermaus"), followed by the debut at the English nationally Opera. He returned 1992/93 for the acclaimed production
of "Bluebeard's Castle" at the ENO and in 1994 led a new production of Smetanas
"The Two Widows". In the same year,
he made a debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York ("Otello"), followed by
"II barbers di Siviglia" 1995/96 and "Aida" 1996/97. he directed
numerous productions at the operas house Zurich with international star such as,
Thomas Hampson, Edita Gruberova and Cecilia Bartoli: Among other productions Haydn's
"L' anima del filosofo", "Cenerentola", Cimarosa's "Il matrimonio
segreto". The extremely successful
resumption of "Linda di Chamounix" with Edita Gruberova was recorded for the TV
production. In January 1997, he directed the
stages production of Verdi's "Macbeth" with the Hungarian State Symphony
Orchestra in Athens.
Since 2000/01performance season, Adam Fischer
has been the GMD at the National Theater Mannheim. There
he conducted wide variety of operas include the new productions of Monteverdi's
"Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda", "Bluebeard's Castle",
"Don Giovanni", and "Idomeneo". He also conducted several
cycles of "Der Ring des Nibelung" and led the successful performance of
"Tristan und Isolde" in Budapest. In 2001 he started the first Mannheim
School for young musicians in Summer and the Mozart week in December. After the death of
Giuseppe Sinopoli, Adam Fischer was appointed by the Bayreuth Festival for "Der Ring
des Nibelung" and made a very successful debut. He will conduct "The
Ring" until 2004.
In
1987 Adam Fischer established the Austrian-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra and started the Haydn
Festival in the Austrian Eisenstadt. The festival
is internationally established in the mean time and invites leading orchestras, ensembles
and soloist. Since 1995, the Austro-Hungarian
Haydn Orchestra by Adam Fischer revived Haydn's Operas at the Haydnsaal, Eisenstadt. The whole festival was presented in Japan, in 1993 with large success. In the
same year, the Austrian-Hungarian Haydn orchestra made a debut in the BBC Proms in London
and appeared on the occasion of the Mostly Mozart Festivals in New York with Martha
Algerich as a soloist in the Lincoln Center. The
orchestra guest appeared many of famous concert halls in Europe, including the
Concertgebouw Amsterdam and in the March 1996 in the Royal festival hall London. In July 1989, Fischer started the
first Gustav Mahler Festivals in Kassel, and he directed as an artistic director. For that he assembled a new orchestra and received
considerable support of the Federal Government for its work. This festival grows permanently and is continued
also further. With a successful performance
of Mozarts "Ascanlo in albums" with the Viennese chamber orchestra, Adam Fischer
made the opening performance of 1991 the Mozart-Year in the Vienna Konzerthaus and
repeated the concert in the year on that in New York.
Since beginning 1999, he leads the Danish Radio Sinfonietta in Copenhagen as
a chief conductor.
With the Austrian-Hungarian Haydn orchestra, he
recorded the complete Haydn symphonies for Nimbus. This
is the first digital recording of entire Haydn Symphonies. The series is established and
received numerous outstanding criticisms. Adam
Fischer recorded also for CBS, EMI, Hungaroton and delta.
His numerous recordings, includes the world premier recording of Goldmark"s
"Die Königin von Saba" (1982 priced with the Grand Prix du Disque); Schubert
and Haydn's symphony; "II barbire di Siviglia" by Paisiello, the complete
version of Mendelssohn's "Midsummer night's dream", a series of the Hungarian
repertoire with the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra and "Bluebeard's Castle"
with Samual Ramey and Eva Marton for CBS. His
film production for the BBC of "Bluebeard's Castle" with the LPO won 1989 the
Prix ltalia and the Royal Philharmonic Society and Charles Heidsieck price for BBC
radio/TV/video.
In 2006
September he will assume the GMD position of Hungarian Radio Symphony
Orchestra. He starts working with the orchestra in 2005/06 season as the
principal guest conductor.
