Ivan Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra’s founder conductor, is a man on a mission. With unparalleled zeal in encouraging audiences to get under the skin of what an orchestra is all about, he talked and led a way through two very different performances at the Usher Hall, both deconstructions of standard concert-hall formats. For something that most of the audience probably hadn’t done for quite some time, sitting on a bean bag looked surprisingly natural in this venue’s stalls. For Fischer and his musicians, it made for a relaxed and fun atmosphere, naturally prompting curiosity about what might be next.

As bodies became moulded to their bags, Fischer and EIF Director, Nicola Benedetti, conversed on stage about how to bring audiences closer to music and musicians, and how to prevent orchestras from dying out as dinosaurs. Opening up repertoire is one approach. Taking what is generally now the preserve of early-music ensembles, the orchestra brought a delicious lightness to three Scherzi Musicali by Monteverdi.

With a dozen instrumentalists to the left and a group of singers to the right, this was airy, foot-tapping music, whether a sweet goodbye song or the tender love of ‘O rosetta, che rosetta’. Then, more chat between the two directors, some tango, some hauntingly nostalgic Klezmer, and two dressed-down violinists and a double-bass player delivering mesmerising traditional music from the faraway villages of Transylvania. With incredibly sophisticated ornamentation for the solo violin while accompaniment came in more rustic style, keeping the pulse, this was the evening’s highlight.

For concert number two, Fischer was ringmaster, right in the middle of the beanbags, microphone in one hand and baton in the other. Players were positioned amongst the audience as they stopped and started Dvořák’s ‘Symphony No 8’ with Fischer providing a running commentary. Maybe it’s reassuring to be told that this bit is a new melody and that bit is a little cadence for the violin, but sometimes you just want to listen to the orchestra playing the music.

Budapest Festival Orchestra reviewed at Usher Hall as part of Edinburgh International Festival.