Zach Top Lovro von Matacic, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

This set contains unique historical recordings of six great symphonies of the Romantic era with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the conductor Lovro von Matačić. These recordings were made between 1959 and 1980 by one of the most remarkable conductors of his generation. Matačić was born in Croatia when it was still part of Austria-Hungary. He studied in Vienna, where the great world of music revealed itself to him, and opera especially. The difficult path he had to follow led him through two world wars, but in the end he became a charismatic figure capable of inspiring and galvanising any orchestra. He repeatedly conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Munich Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan, and he stood at the helm of the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Czech public always welcomed him as a special guest, and Supraphon enabled him to record first Beethoven’s Eroica and two great symphonies by Tchaikovsky. Especially rare are the three symphonies by Anton Bruckner with the best-known Seventh, the grandiose Fifth, and the concluding Ninth representing Late Romanticism at its zenith. This one-of-a-kind creation shows the orchestra of Ančerl’s and Neumann’s era in a different light. Around the world, Matačić is better known for his opera recordings, so this Supraphon set of orchestral recordings is unique.