as an excuse to build new coal mines. he was speaking at a un climate change summit where delegates are seeking ways of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. now on bbc news, it s hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. much of the world is now transitioning from locking down to living with covid 19, and that means that, in cities like london, cultural life is returning, performers are back on stage, audiences can gather to enjoy them. my guest today is the world renowned hungarian conductor and composer, ivan fischer, known for his innovative style. it has been a tough couple of years, so how easy is it to find the magic in music making? ivan fischer, welcome to hardtalk. lovely to be here. it s great to have you here in london. let me ask you how different has it been making music in the time of covid? covid had positive and negative effects on our life. the problem was that there is no audience and actually we make music for people. this is actually easy for musi
world renowned hungarian conductor and composer ivan fischer, known for his innovative style. it has been a tough couple of years, so how easy is it to find the magic in music making? ivan fischer, welcome to hardtalk. lovely to be here. it s great to have you here in london. let me ask you, how different has it been making music in the time of covid? covid had positive and negative effects on our life. the problem was that there is no audience and actually we make music for people. this is actually easy for musicians to forget. some musicians make music to impress other musicians, and we always, i remind them, we play for the audiences, we play for the listeners. and this is what we didn t have. that was terrible. now the good thing is that, actually, it made us realise how badly we need the audiences. i think there is a streaming tiredness in the world now. because for many months after covid hit hungary, hit europe, hit the world, you created a new way of performing in y
much they need music. and this is what we provide, and it gives me pleasure to simply make music for people. before we end, i want to get you to consider the future. you have said that the symphony orchestra, the very idea of it, has to continue constantly to evolve and develop, or it will simply become a museum. you are still full of energy and creativity, so where are you taking the idea of the orchestra and classical music next? i think a symphony orchestra must reform in order to survive. i would go even further, the danger is not that an orchestra becomes a museum, the danger is that an orchestra dies out like the dinosaur. really? yes, because they must reform, they must go with the age, they must recognise what the new generations need.
and you it seems to me, you ve done it in a very different way from the more traditional approach of the maestro conductor who imposes his will on an orchestra. that is not your approach, is it? you are more collaborative and, in a funny sort of way, you expect more from your musicians, because you don t just sort of treat them as tools to be used. i think there is a lot of creativity in people, and it s very unfortunate if they have a job playing in an orchestra and all they are asked to is to follow instructions. it limits their potential. and i always thought how wonderful it would be to have an orchestra where the creativity of the individual is encouraged, rather than suppressed. do you sometimes wish that classical music was a little less rigid,
being able to do normal concerts, with orchestra on stage and the full concert hall. how do you turn it into a virtue? first of all, we came to the idea that to have a small chamber groups is fine. you cannot have an orchestra, because.too dangerous with this virus. three, four people, you can get away with that. so, the orchestra started to play much more chamber music, and this is wonderful for them. they love it. and the other thing was, i imagine the audience, they cannot go to the concert, they are at home, now the age of streaming concerts starts. so, let s give them a concert every night, a new chamber music concert. we called it the quarantine soirees and we did a new