Page 151 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2025. Glasbena interpretacija: med umetniškim in znanstvenim┊Music Interpretation: Between the Artistic and the Scientific. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 8

an attempt at an analysis of the factors influencing a conductor’s interpretation ...
particularly fond of Wagner. An established composer and conductor in
his own right, Brecher had also worked with Richard Strauss and Gustav
10
Mahler. Recognising the young Matačić’s remarkable musical gifts, he of-
fered him a job at the Cologne Opera. Matačić became a répétiteur and
also undertook various technical duties backstage. We may assume that
the main reason he accepted the position was an agreement that Brecher
would give him private lessons in conducting. While discharging his rela-
11
tively menial duties, Matačić had the opportunity to follow events on stage,
listening with particular interest to the works of Wagner, which were the
foundation of the repertoire. Wagner became his new lodestar, which he
would follow for the rest of his life.
After the brief military interlude of the First World War, during which
he became seriously ill, he returned to his native city, Rijeka, where the year
1919 found him playing in cafés and seeking a suitable musical engagement.
As luck would have it, it was in this environment that he met the intendant
of the opera house in Osijek, who offered him a job as assistant conductor.
It was in Osijek that he met the Slovene conductor Mirko Polič (1890–1951),
with whom he would later work in Ljubljana. Despite his lack of experience,
Matačić was given the opportunity to conduct two operetta premieres in
12
Osijek. Barely twenty years old and with little experience, he nevertheless
felt qualified to write concert reviews, and also attracted attention to him-
13
self in this way. In June of that same year, he appeared in the double guise
of pianist and composer at a chamber music evening in the hall of the Za-
greb conservatoire. This was a period in which he would introduce himself
in public as an accompanist and composer. His first compositions actually
dated from his Gymnasium years but are believed to be lost. At the chamber
concert in Zagreb, it was his songs for solo voice and piano that were per-
formed, with Matačić himself appearing as accompanist. Composing, play-
ing and writing were just as important to him as conducting. As he himself
put it: “In my view, conducting is not enough. One also needs experience of com-
posing, playing, writing.” He devoted himself to composition throughout
14
10 Anon., “The Leipzig General Music Director Gustav Brecher,” https://www.rund-
funkschaetze.de/en/edition-gewandhausorchester-leipzig/02-oper-leipzig/brech-
er-gustav/.
11 Ana Vidić, Lovro Matačić (Zagreb: Fond Lovro in Lilly Matačić, 2019), 33; Sedak, ed.,
Matačić, 34.
12 Sedak, ed., Matačić, 34.
13 Ibid., 36.
14 Ibid., 37.

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