Budapest Festival Orchestra plant one for Hungary

Budapest Festival Orchestra / Iván Fischer / Stephen Hough - Royal Festival Hall, 16 January 2011

Yes, it's the Royal Festival Hall, and yes, it's a tree.  Sneaked on during the interval, it was the first of the surprises Iván Fischer had in store for Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. The second was to scatter the woodwinds individually amongst the string section as if they were too naughty to sit together. In a more acoustically refined venue, this might have created unique spatial effects; in the Royal Festival Hall it was business as muddy usual.