Ivana Fišer (born Fischer; June 13, 1905 – September 7, 1967) was known as a Croatian-Jewish conductor.

Background

Fišer was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

on June 13, 1905, into the family of the well-known Jewish Croatian architect Ignjat Fischer and his wife Helena (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Egersdorfer). She attended elementary and music schools in Zagreb. Fišer graduated from the

Academy of Music, University of Zagreb The Academy of Music ( or MUZA) is a Croatian music school based in Zagreb. It is one of the three art academies affiliated with the University of Zagreb, along with the Academy of Dramatic Art and the Academy of Fine Arts. It is the oldest an ...

, under Fran Lhotka as the first female conductor in Croatia. Soon afterwards she left for

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, where she further refined her skills at the

Mozarteum University of Salzburg Mozarteum University Salzburg (German language, German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the "Mozarteum" name in Salzburg, Salzburg municipality; th ...

. From 1931 to 1934, Fišer worked as

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist with the

Croatian Music Institute Croatian Music Institute (, HGZ) is the oldest music institution in Croatia. It is the second most important concert hall in Zagreb after the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall. Institution was founded in 1827 as "Musikverein" (English: musical soci ...

orchestra. As a conductor, Fišer debuted in 1933 while directing the comic opera ''

Bastien und Bastienne ' (''Bastien and Bastienne''), Köchel catalogue, K. 50 (revised in 1964 to K. 46b) is a one-act singspiel, a comic opera, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ' was one of Mozart's earliest operas, written in 1768 when he was only twelve years old. It wa ...

'' with the

Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra (Croatian: Zagrebačka filharmonija) is a Croatian orchestra based in Zagreb. The orchestra gives its concerts principally at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall and at the Croatian National Theatre, Zagreb. Hi ...

. From 1939 to 1941, she led the Zagreb

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

orchestra. Until 1941, she also led the

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

philharmonic orchestra. From 1947 to 1965, Fišer worked as a prompter at the

Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb (), commonly referred to as (), is a theatre, opera and ballet house located in Zagreb. Overview The theatre evolved out of the first city theatre opened in 1834, housed in the present-day Old City Hal ...

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fiser, Ivana 1905 births 1967 deaths Musicians from Zagreb Croatian Jews Jews from Austria-Hungary Croatian Austro-Hungarians Croatian women conductors (music) Academy of Music, University of Zagreb alumni 20th-century Croatian conductors (music) 20th-century women musicians