Roman Matsov; was an Estonian violinist, pianist, and conductor of Baltic German descent.
Education
In 1940 he graduated from the Tallinn Conservatory in violin and piano, and shortly before Estonia became part of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics he entered the Leningrad Conservatory, while still being Konzertmeister of several Estonian symphony orchestras.
Career
He undertook summer courses in Berlin under Georg Kulenkampff (violin) and Walter Gieseking (piano). At the outbreak of war he volunteered for the front and became a lieutenant, but being wounded severely in 1941. In 1943 he conducted for the first time, in Yaroslav, with the evacuated Estonian artistic collective.
By 1950 he was a regular conductor and lead conductor of Estonia Radio and television Symphony Orchestra.
He gave premiers of many works of Estonian composers, along with Stravinsky, Hindemith, Schoenberg and Webern, and went on to rise rapidly. However later he was criticised for scheduling the works of Mahler.
Roman Matsov collaborated with Dmitry Shostakovich to ensure the composer"s music survived, but like Maria Yudina was banned from traveling abroad and spurned by official musical authorities. Three years following his death, in 2004 Gramophone noted "A home is being sought for thousands of Shostakovich manuscripts and recordings still stored in the Estonian apartment of the collection"s former owner, conductor Roman Matsov".