Lhotka-Kalinski, Ivo

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Lhotka-Kalinski, Ivo

Lhotka-Kalinski, Ivo, Croatian composer, son of Fran Lhotka; b. Zagreb, July 30, 1913; d. there, Jan. 29, 1987. He studied composition with his father and also voice at the Zagreb Academy of Music. After further composition lessons with Pizzetti in Rome (1937–39), he was active as a teacher. He then was prof. of singing at the Zagreb Academy of Music (from 1951), becoming its regional director in 1967. He had a natural flair for stage composition in the folk style, and wrote several brilliant musical burlesques, among them Analfabeta(The Illiterate; Belgrade, Oct. 19,1954), Putovanje(The Journey), the first television opera in Yugoslavia (Zagreb, June 10, 1957), Dugme(The Button; Zagreb, April 21,1958), Vlast(Authority; Zagreb TV, Oct. 18, 1959), and Svjetleci grad(The Town of Light; Zagreb, Dec. 26,1967). Other works include a children’s opera, Velika coprarija(The Great Sorcerer; 1952), Sym. (1937), Jutro(Morning), symphonic poem (1941–42), Misli(Thoughts) for Clarinet and Strings (1965), chamber music, choral works, songs, and piano pieces.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire