Milan Sachs (28 November 1884 – 4 August 1968) was a
Czech-Croatian opera conductor and composer, who was long associated with the
Zagreb Opera in
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
, where he conducted some important local premieres, including
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's ''
Parsifal
''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival ...
'', and
Janáček's ''
Jenůfa
''Její pastorkyňa'' (''Her Stepdaughter''; commonly known as ''Jenůfa'' ) is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play ''Její pastorkyňa'' by Gabriela Preissová. It was first performed ...
'' (1920).
He also conducted the standard symphonic repertoire in the concert hall. In 1936, in
Brno,
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
, he conducted the world premiere of
Dvořák's
Symphony No. 1, ''The Bells of Zlonice'' (this was 61 years after it was written and 32 years after the composer's death).
Biography
Sachs was born in
Lišov
Lišov (; german: Lischau) is a town in České Budějovice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,600 inhabitants.
Administrative parts
Villages of Červený Újezdec, Dolní Miletín, Dolní Slověnice, Horn ...
in
Bohemia to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family.
He studied the violin at the
Prague Conservatory
The Prague Conservatory or Prague Conservatoire ( cs, Pražská konzervatoř) is a music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, Prague Conservatory offers four or six year study courses, which can be compared to the level ...
, graduating in 1905, when he joined the
Czech Philharmonic. From 1907 to 1910 he was concertmaster of a theatre orchestra in
Belgrade,
Kingdom of Serbia, and from 1910 to 1911 a music teacher in
Novi Sad
Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...
. In 1911 he began to conduct opera in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
,
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
(then part of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
; later part of
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
). He conducted the first production of
Janáček's ''
Jenůfa
''Její pastorkyňa'' (''Her Stepdaughter''; commonly known as ''Jenůfa'' ) is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play ''Její pastorkyňa'' by Gabriela Preissová. It was first performed ...
'' in Zagreb in 1920.
[John Tyrrell, Leoš Janáček, ''Kátʹa Kabanová'']
/ref>
He was appointed Director of Opera at the National Theatre in Brno, Czechoslovakia in 1932, remaining there until 1938. In 1933 in Brno he conducted the world premiere of the ballet ''Svatba'', set to Stravinsky's ''Les noces
''Les Noces'' (French for The Wedding; russian: Свадебка, ''Svadebka'') is a ballet and orchestral concert work composed by Igor Stravinsky for percussion, pianists, chorus, and vocal soloists. The composer gave it the descriptive title " ...
'', choreography by Máša Cvejicová.
That same year 1933 saw Sachs conduct the first performance in Brno of ''Káťa Kabanová
''Káťa Kabanová'' (also known in various spellings including ''Katia'', ''Katja'', ''Katya'', and ''Kabanowa'') is an opera in three acts, with music by Leoš Janáček to a libretto by the composer based on '' The Storm'', a play by Alexander ...
'' since the 1928 death of its composer Janáček. It is clear from the markings on the scores held there that Sachs dispensed with the practice of linking scenes in the opera by way of extended interludes.[
On 4 October 1936, in Brno, Sachs conducted the world premiere of Dvořák's Symphony No. 1 in C minor, ''The Bells of Zlonice''. The work was written in 1865, but for almost 60 years had been believed lost, until it came to light in 1923. Dvořák himself had died in 1904, having never heard his first symphony performed. Sachs was said to have ''"tactfully … made few essential emendations and abbreviations"'' to the score.
In the 1930s, he was considered the most important member of the Jewish community involved in music in Zagreb. He conducted the first performance of ]Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's ''Parsifal
''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival ...
'' in Zagreb.
During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, as a Jew, Sachs converted to Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in an attempt to save himself from persecution by the Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...
regime. For a time he was sheltered at the ward of ophthalmologist Dr. Vilko Panac in the Sisters of Charity Hospital Zagreb. Later Dido Kvaternik
Eugen Dido Kvaternik (29 March 1910 – 10 March 1962) was a Croatian Ustaše General-Lieutenant and the Chief of the Internal Security Service in the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi puppet state during World War II.
Life
Eugen Dido Kvat ...
intervened to help save Sachs and his wife from persecution.
He was President of the Croatian Society of Music Artists 1945–48, and he was instrumental in the development of the Zagreb Opera after World War II. He was also known for his work in the concert hall, particularly in the symphonies of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
, and Smetana's symphonic poem cycle ''Má vlast
''Má vlast'' (), also known as ''My Fatherland'', is a set of six symphonic poems composed between 1874 and 1879 by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. The six pieces, conceived as individual works, are often presented and recorded as a single ...
''. He made a number of recordings, including Ivan Zajc
Ivan Zajc (also hr, Ivan plemeniti Zajc, it, Giovanni de Zaytz; ; August 3, 1832 – December 16, 1914), was a Croatian composer, conductor, director, and teacher who dominated Croatia's musical culture for over forty years. Through his ar ...
's opera ''Nikola Šubić Zrinski
Nikola IV Zrinski or Miklós IV Zrínyi ( hu, Zrínyi Miklós, ; 1507/1508 – 7 September 1566), also commonly known as Nikola Šubić Zrinski (), was a Croatian nobleman and general, Ban of Croatia from 1542 until 1556, royal master of the tr ...
''.
He died in Zagreb in 1968, aged 83. His own works are mainly forgotten, but his ''Pastorale and Dance'' is still in the repertoire. In Sachs' honour, a street and a kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...
in Zagreb are named after him.Dječji vrtić Milana Sachsa
(Croatian)
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sachs, Milan
1884 births
1968 deaths
People from České Budějovice District
People from the Kingdom of Bohemia
Austro-Hungarian Jews
Croatian people of Czech-Jewish descent
Czech conductors (music)
Croatian conductors (music)
Male conductors (music)
Croatian composers
Czech classical composers
Czech male classical composers
Jewish classical composers
20th-century conductors (music)
20th-century Czech male musicians