Iván Fischer, artistic director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, introduces his latest invention: a music-enhancing face mask.
‘One of Mozart’s favourite ideas was to turn necessity into a virtue,’ says the Hungarian conductor. ‘Now people are wearing masks and it’s a necessity but it’s also an opportunity to improve acoustics.’
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He continues: ‘When you put your hands [behind your ears] you hear the orchestra warmer, fuller, especially in halls with dry acoustics,’ Fischer explains.
Accordingly, his new mask has two plastic cups shaped like palms, which are attached to the mask’s strings and designed to fit around the wearer’s ears. The aim is to allow concertgoers to enjoy improved acoustics during the time of COVID-19.
Fischer insists that his masks create something similar to church acoustics, with warmer undertones and clearer, sharper contours.
The mask can be ordered through the orchestra’s website and costs 8000 forints (£20).
Iván Fischer founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 1983, initially intending it for a limited number of concerts a year on a part-time basis. Since then, however, it has grown into a permanent institution, with a schedule of about 30 weeks of performing a year. From the start, its programming has been unique, with series including the Titok-koncert (‘bag of surprise’) concert series where the programme is not announced and ‘one forint concerts’ where he talks to the audience. Members of the orchestra have also been known to lay down their instruments and join together as a choir for encores. During the Covid pandemic, he circumnavigated the ban on audiences by performing Mahler to fish. 