Page 152 - 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

glasbena interpretacija ... | music interpretation ...
15
his life, alongside his conducting. Connoisseurs of Matačić’s work believe
that his method of studying scores through the eyes of the composer sig-
nificantly influenced his interpretation and the aesthetics of the sound.
16
He believed that musical activity on multiple levels was necessary to shape
a truly artistic personality. Some people even believe that composition was
his secret desire or unrealised dream – unrealised because life had marked
him above all for conducting. 17
When Matačić was called up for military service in the army of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in the second half of 1920 and sent
to Novi Sad, he was appointed conductor of a military band, which he
mainly conducted in promenade concerts. An ambitious and enterprising
young man, he managed to talk his way into working with the newly found-
ed opera company in Novi Sad, which came under the aegis of the Serbian
National Theatre – despite his youth and his lack of experience and formal
qualifications. Over the course of two seasons he was given the opportunity
to conduct Cavalleria rusticana, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Gounod’s Faust,
Carmen and Il trovatore. Professional critics particularly praised the per-
formance of Mozart’s Requiem on 13 February 1922, in which he drew on
the combined forces of Novi Sad’s choirs, music societies and opera ensem-
ble. With this performance, wrote the critics, he proved his greatness and
even surpassed his opera performances. This successful start to an inde-
18
pendent conducting career was interrupted shortly afterwards by the dis-
solution of the Novi Sad opera company, which coincided with the end of
Matačić’s military service.
Despite being unemployed and once again forced to earn a living as
a café pianist, Matačić did not despair. In May 1922 he introduced himself
to Matej Hubad, the director of the mixed choir of the Glasbena Matica in
Ljubljana, when the choir performed in Novi Sad as part of a tour of Serbia.
Hubad agreed to write a letter of recommendation on his behalf to the in-
tendant of the Ljubljana Opera, Friderik Rukavina (1883–1940). The following
15 Matačić mainly composed vocal-instrumental works, from art songs to more ex-
tensive pieces for soloists, choir and orchestra. A list of works can be found in: Ibid.,
373–6.
16 Matačić’s views on the study of literature and the right to a subjective attitude to-
wards interpretation is discussed in most depth by Petar Bergamo. Petar Bergamo,
“Interpretacija kao symbol,” in Matačić, ed. Eva Sedak (Zagreb: Fond Lovro & Lilly
Matačić, 1996), 191–203.
17 Ibid., 193.
18 J. P., “Mozartov Requiem u Novom Sadu,” Politika 17/1922, February 17, 1922, 7,
quoted in: Sedak, ed., Matačić, 37.

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