Jihlava boasts a long and rich musical tradition. The first mention of a local singing school dates back to 1571. The city’s musical life in the late 16th century was shaped by Jihlava’s “master singers”, organists, and choirmasters active in the choirs of St. James and the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
In the 19th century, music acquired new social dimensions. In 1819, the Music Society (Musikverein) was founded, bringing together members of the city’s elite and educated classes. The bourgeois society took a particular liking to vocal music – in 1852, the Men’s Choral Society (Männergesang-Verein) was established.
After the revolutionary year 1848, Jihlava came alive with numerous concerts and theatrical performances, often of a charitable nature. Music resounded above all in the new Municipal Theatre, built in 1850 from a former Capuchin monastery. The repertoire featured operas, operettas, and plays popular throughout the monarchy. From 1870, music lovers also gathered in the hall of Franz G. Czap’s hotel (today’s Dělnický dům).
This vibrant cultural environment became the essential foundation for the development of Gustav Mahler’s exceptional musical talent.
Gustav Mahler’s musical gift manifested at a very early age. It is said that at four, he tried playing the piano, and a year later “performed” for market women on a small accordion. His father soon recognized his son’s talent and began to support it deliberately.
Mahler’s first teachers were Czech musicians from the town band, such as Jakub Sladký, Jan Brož, and Jan Žižka from the theatre orchestra. Others who contributed to his development included František Viktorin, Václav Pressburg (a pupil of Anton Bruckner), and František Sturm. The most significant influence, however, was Heinrich Fischer (1827–1917) – choirmaster at St. James, conductor of the Men’s Choral Society, and a key figure in Jihlava’s musical life. Mahler never forgot him and remained in contact with him throughout his life.
Mahler’s first public performance took place on 13 October 1870 at the Municipal Theatre. A few days later, the newspaper Vermittler reported on the “extraordinary success of the ten-year-old son of a Jewish merchant, Mahler.”
Another performance followed on 11 November 1872, when Mahler played Liszt’s Variations on Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The press praised his “excellent technique and distinctive expression.” In 1873, he achieved further success with a fantasy on a theme from Bellini’s Norma by Thalberg – first at the Municipal Theatre, and later again at Hotel Czap during the jubilee of the Men’s Choral Society.
Even after leaving to study at the Vienna Conservatory, Mahler often returned to his native Jihlava. Local institutions took advantage of the presence of the famous musician by organizing concerts, many of them for charity.
31 July 1876 – Concert at Hotel Czap with Richard Schraml
12 September 1876 – Performance with conservatory students and members of the Vienna Court Opera, proceeds for the Jihlava Grammar School
24 April 1879 – Gala concert celebrating the 25th wedding anniversary of the imperial couple
19 September 1882 – Conducted the operetta Boccaccio by Franz von Suppé
11 August 1883 – Charity concert for the Red Cross, accompanied violinist Míla Ottová and conducted the operetta Kaffeekränzchen
