This beautifully recorded CD gets off to an auspicious start with an exquisitely phrased and subtly controlled account of Brahms's 14th Hungarian Dance… The Haydn Variations… sounds particularly satisfying here… Fischer secures clarity of texture throughout without sacrificing any warmth. Fischer opens the First Symphony in a very striking but undeniably effective manner, the strings tracing the soaring chromatic melody with the same portamento rich sonority as in the Hungarian Dance. ...perhaps the most exciting and riveting playing is reserved for the Finale where Fischer shows an unerring sense of pacing, coaxing the musical argument from the depths of despair in the opening to triumph, affirmation and elation at the close.

Ivan Fischer's recording is a real joy: Classical-style limpid textures, an all-round more sprightly attack, yet still a warmly Romantic sound.

Fischer and his decidedly classy Budapest orchestra treat the Variations as an affectionate tribute to Haydn, an east-of-Vienna man if ever there was one. Finely sprung and nicely styled, the performance even has its own zigeunerisch dimension - in the finale where Brahms's witty and heroic use of the triangle is neatly pointed. the symphony... too is a vibrant affair, stylish and alert... This is a more extrovert reading than many you will hear, less burdened.

Ever the radical, [Fischer] effectively refashions each work from scratch. The Haydn ­Variations have a grace and lightness of touch we don't often hear in them. The First, meanwhile, is monumental in every sense of the word...Outstanding.