Biography
Lovro von Matačić (February 14, 1899, Sušak, Croatia – January 4, 1985, Belgrade, Yugoslavia), also Lovro pl. Matačić, was a Croatian conductor. He was a member of the Vienna Boys Choir and studied in Vienna before holding a variety of conducting positions in Germany and Yugoslavia. He is most associated with the music of Bruckner, though he committed quite a wide range of music to recordings, including works by Beethoven and Puccini.
During World War II, he served as a lieutenant colonel in the Croatian Home Guard and was conductor for the Independent State of Croatia's military bands.[1] After the war he was sentenced to death by Communist Yugoslavia's government. However, his wife Lilika, who was Jewish, petitioned the Jewish-Yugoslav politician Moša Pijade who intervened and gained Matačić release after a year in imprisonment.
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The Lovro pl. Matačić Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded biennally by the Croatian Association of Musical Artists.
Lovro von Matačić (Sušak, 14. veljače 1899. - Beograd, 4. siječnja 1985.), hrvatski dirigent
U Beču je studirao glasovir, orgulje i dirigiranje. Umjetničku karijeru započeo je kao korepetitor Opere u Kölnu, a zatim je dirigirao u Osijeku, Novom Sadu, Ljubljani, Beogradu, Rigi i Zagrebu. Godine 1933. ravnao je Bečkim simfoničarima, a 1939. u Parizu je postavio "Borisa Godunova".
Nakon Drugog svjetskog rata djelovao je u Operama Skoplja, Rijeke i Ljubljane. Godine 1954. nastavio je međunarodnu karijeru (Dresden, Monako, Tokio, Beč, Rim, Berlin), a 1970. godine postao je šef dirigent Zagrebačke filharmonije.
Najveći je hrvatski dirigent svih vremena, jedan od svjetski najštovanijih tumača Wagnerove i Brucknerove glazbe. U međuratnom razdoblju praizveo je niz djela naših autora. Privatno se bavio i pedagoškim radom, povremeno skladao (orkestralno djelo "Balada konfrontacija"). Ostavio je zakladu "Lovro i Lilly Matačić" koja pomaže mladim dirigentima.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.