"... Matesic writes in a highly-chromatic idiom infused with a fevered, late-romantic-early-modern intensity that recalls Berg more than anyone else. Indeed his Duo begins with and develops

a sinuous five-note motive,

first sung in the cello under low, murmuring double-stops in the violin,

akin to the opening figures of Berg’s Opus 3 String Quartet

and of Bartok’s Second String Quartet.

Like those great predecessors, Matesic’s Duo conveys the haunting and haunted end-of-an-era decadence and morbid, thanatopic longing of early expressionism as it winds its way through restless unease and the struggle for ecstatic release

before finally subsiding into darkening gloom.

The work’s timbral variety and contrapuntal density create a sound-world of much greater complexity and scope than would seem possible with only two string instruments, and its balance of fantastic elaboration with forward-driving purpose and compelling structural logic is maintained with unfaltering consistency and confidence.

This is demanding but deeply rewarding music of great beauty,

power, and depth of emotion... "

American Record Guide 05 - 06/2008 Mark Lehmann  

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A real theatrical animal

Vera Nemirova and Massimiliano Matesic have succeeded in creating a wonderfully multi-layered, light-footed play

that can be realized even with modest means,

and one immediately wishes it seven more lives on stage. At least. "

Opernwelt 01/2017 Albrecht Thiemann

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"Vera Nemirova wrote the libretto for a family opera, which the Italian-Dalmatian composer Massimiliano Matesic brilliantly set to music...

the premiere at opera stabile was a triumph

for creator and ensemble”.

WELT N24 17/10/2016

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Dreamlike cat music

"... Massimiliano Matesic has composed beautiful,

late-Romantic-sounding music that is reminds compositions by Richard Strauss, Korngold and Zemlinsky ...

There was much applause and cheering at the premiere

this weekend.

It's much more than a children's play ... "Katze Ivanka" is a smash hit."

NDR.de/ Culture-Music-Classic 17.10.2016 Daniel Kaiser

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"The Italian-Dalmatian composer Massimiliano Matesic may call his style "ruin music"... but his "ruin" sounds fresh and expressive,

suitable for beginners and advanced musicians alike...

Those who like to listen to super weird stuff

and think about the posthuman age of the sound body,

who cannot do without video installations and cameras on stage,

may find "Katze Ivanka" old-fashioned. 

All others will experience an evening that is as light as it is substantial.

A children's opera? A family opera? Who cares!

Either way, "Katze Ivanka" will find its way into the repertoire. 

Artyfishial Katze Ivanka -an-animal-opera 19/10/2016

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Big Meow at the Hamburg State Opera

"... Two older ladies next to me disagreed whether it did not sound "too modern" at times or whether that was precisely what gave the plot its pepper after all. One tended rather towards the pepper at the end.

It is music from the depths of the late romantic roots,

which Matesic cleverly processes and brings into the present.

Music that is quite capable of moving and touching, just like the plot. And Ivanka's farewell to Falana really touches the heart -

a small opera on a grand scale, you cannot ask for more."

KULTUR PORT.DE 21/10/2016 

 

Made for everyone, Katze Ivanka at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.

This production shows once again that children and young people are trusted with far more in contemporary music

than is commonly thought...

Badische Neue Nachrichten 20/11/2017 Karl-Heinz Fischer