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Charles Mackerras

Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras AC, CH, CBE (/məˈkɛrəs/; 17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010)[1][2] was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the English National Opera (and its predecessor) and Welsh National Opera and was the first Australian chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He also specialized in Czech music as a whole, producing many recordings for the Czech label Supraphon.

Mackerras in 2005

Early life and education

Mackerras was born in Schenectady, New York, to Australian parents, Alan Mackerras and Catherine MacLaurin.[3] His father was an electrical engineer and a Quaker.[3] Mackerras grew up in a very musical family and his mother was immensely cultured. In 1928, when Charles was aged two, the family returned to Sydney, Australia. They initially lived in the suburb of Rose Bay, and in 1933 they moved to the then semi-rural suburb of Turramurra.[4] Mackerras was the eldest of seven children. His siblings were Alastair (1928–99), Neil (1930–87), Joan (1934–2020), Elisabeth (b. 1937) and twins Malcolm and Colin (b. 1939).[5] They are descendants of the pioneer Australian musician Isaac Nathan.[3] Mackerras is related to the well known Australian-Jewish composer Isaac Nathan and has Jewish ancestry.[3] Mackerras studied violin at the age of seven and later the flute.[3] He was setting poems to music at eight and wrote a piano concerto when he was 12.[4]

Mackerras initially attended his father's alma mater, Sydney Grammar School, and also St Aloysius College in Sydney.[3] While at Sydney Grammar, he showed a precocious talent by composing operas and conducting student performances in his early teens, but his non-musical studies suffered.[4] At all-male St Aloysius, he participated in the school's Gilbert and Sullivan productions, playing the roles of Kate in The Pirates of Penzance, Leila in Iolanthe and Ko-Ko in The Mikado.[5] Unconvinced that music was a viable profession, his parents removed the young Mackerras from temptation by sending him to board at The King's School. The school's focus on sport and discipline led the young artist to run away several times, and he was eventually expelled.[4] At age 16, Mackerras studied oboe, piano and composition at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music. He earned additional income from writing orchestral scores from recordings.[4]

Early career

By 1941, while still at the conservatory, Mackerras began to get professional performing jobs in Sydney, partly because he was too young to join the military, while older musicians had been called up to go to the war. From 1941 to 1942, Mackerras played the oboe for the J. C. Williamson Company during one of their Gilbert and Sullivan seasons, and he was a rehearsal pianist for the Kirsova ballet company.[5] In 1943, Mackerras joined the ABC Sydney Orchestra, under Malcolm Sargent, as second oboist and at age 19, became principal oboist.[4][6][7] On 6 February 1947, Mackerras sailed for England on the RMS Rangitiki[3] intending to pursue conducting.[4] He joined Sadler's Wells Theatre as an orchestral oboist and cor anglais player.[3] He later won a British Council Scholarship, enabling him to study conducting with Václav Talich at the Prague Academy of Music.[3][4] While there, he formed a strong friendship with Jiří Tancibudek, Principal Oboe of the Czech Philharmonic, who introduced him to the operas of Leoš Janáček, thus commencing Mackerras's lifelong passion for that composer's music.[8]

In August 1947, shortly before the couple set off for Prague, Mackerras married Judy Wilkins, a clarinettist at Sadlers' Wells.[5] They had two daughters, Fiona and Catherine.[4][9] Fiona died of cancer in September 2006.[10] He was also the uncle of the Australian conductor Alexander Briger[11] and the British-born American conductor Drostan Hall, Music Director of Camerata Chicago.[12]

Returning to England from Prague in 1948, Mackerras rejoined Sadler's Wells as an assistant conductor and began his lifelong association with the Sadler's Wells Opera, now English National Opera, conducting, among others, Janáček, Handel, Gluck, Bach, and Donizetti.[3][4] In the 1950s, well before the "authenticity" movement had come to general notice, Mackerras focused on the study and practical realization of period performance techniques, culminating in his landmark 1959 recording of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks using the original wind band instrumentation. In his 1965 performance of The Marriage of Figaro, he added the ornamentation in a historically informed style.

Mackerras also strongly championed the music of Janáček outside Czechoslovakia, where Mackerras himself judged his work with Janáček as his single most important legacy to music.[13] In 1951, he conducted the British premiere of Káťa Kabanová. He was also a noted authority on Mozart's operas and those of Sir Arthur Sullivan. His ballet with John Cranko, Pineapple Poll, is an arrangement of Sullivan music with a story based on one of W. S. Gilbert's Bab Ballads. The piece premiered in 1951, soon after the expiration of copyright on Sullivan's music, and continues to be a popular light music favourite in English speaking countries.[5] Mackerras later arranged music by Giuseppe Verdi for the ballet The Lady and the Fool. He also arranged a suite from John Ireland's score for the 1946 film The Overlanders, after Ireland's death in 1962.

He was principal conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra from 1954 to 1956.[14] In 1962, he conducted the S.A. Symphony Orchestra in the Australian première of Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos as part of the Adelaide Festival,[15] with Adelaide-born Una Hale in the title role. In 1963, he made his debut at London's Covent Garden conducting Shostakovich's Katerina Izmailova. He directed the Hamburg State Opera from 1965 to 1969 and the English National Opera from 1970 to 1977.[16] In 1972, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in New York conducting Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice. Mackerras worked closely with Benjamin Britten for a time until 1958, when, during rehearsals for the first performance of Britten's opera Noye's Fludde, he made comments about Britten liking prepubescent boys' company and Britten subsequently stopped speaking to him.[3][4]

He conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Birgit Nilsson in the opening concert of the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, in 1973.[7][17]

Later career

Mackerras had conducted a few Gilbert and Sullivan productions for English National Opera, but his first experience as a guest conductor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was for Trial by Jury, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado during the 1975 D'Oyly Carte centenary season at the Savoy. He conducted Patience at the Proms in 1976, the first full-length Gilbert and Sullivan opera given complete at the Proms. In 1980 he joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Trust and later its board of trustees. In the early 1980s he conducted two New Year's Eve broadcasts of Savoy operas for the BBC, and his recordings of eight of the operas were broadcast in 1989 by BBC Radio 2 as part of a complete Gilbert and Sullivan series. He also conducted a centennial performance of Sullivan's The Golden Legend in Leeds and the first staging of a complete Gilbert and Sullivan opera at the Royal Opera House, The Yeomen of the Guard, with Welsh National Opera in 1995.[18] In 1980, also, he became the first non-Briton to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Last Night of the Proms.[3]

In 1982 Mackerras was the first Australian national appointed chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a post he held until 1985.[4] he directed the Welsh National Opera from 1987 to 1992, where his Janáček productions won particular praise. One of the highlights of the 1991 season was the reopening of the Estates Theatre in Prague, scene of the original premiere of Mozart's Don Giovanni, in which Mackerras conducted a new production of that opera to mark the bicentenary of Mozart's death. As Conductor Emeritus of Welsh National Opera, his successes included Tristan und Isolde, The Yeomen of the Guard, and La clemenza di Tito (all of which productions were brought to London). He was the principal guest conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) from 1992 to 1995, and held the title of Conductor Laureate with the SCO. He was principal guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1993 to 1996. During the same period, he was also principal guest conductor of the San Francisco Opera. From 1998 to 2001 he was the music director of the Orchestra of St. Luke's. From 1987, he regularly conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and was appointed Emeritus Conductor in 2007.

In 2004 he became principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra. He was also principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. With the Royal Opera, he conducted productions of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette and Handel's Semele. Mackerras also had a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where he conducted The Makropulos Case, Káťa Kabanová, Le prophète, Lucia di Lammermoor, Billy Budd, Hansel and Gretel and The Magic Flute.

In August 2008, Mackerras was announced as the new Honorary President of the Edinburgh International Festival Society.[19] He was only the second person to hold this role, after Yehudi Menuhin. As the original part of the largest arts festival in the world, the Edinburgh International Festival featured performances from Mackerras throughout six decades since his first in 1952. Mackerras summarised his strategy for working with an orchestra as follows:

I believe it's very important to edit orchestral parts explicitly and as thoroughly as possible, so that the musicians can play them without too much rehearsal. For instance, the other day I did all the Schumann symphonies with very little rehearsal at all. Because the parts were clearly marked, particularly with regard to dynamics, we were able to play them without needing to do that much preliminary work, focusing our attention on the interpretation rather than the technical business of who plays too loud or too soft.[20]

Mackerras was the President of Trinity College of Music, London.[6] He also served as Music Advisor to City Opera of Vancouver, a professional chamber opera company led by conductor Charles Barber.[21] He was also a Patron of Bampton Classical Opera.[22][23] From 1999 Mackerras was a Patron of the Australian children's cancer charity Redkite.[24]

On 18 December 2008, Mackerras served as the conductor for Alfred Brendel's final concert performance with the Vienna Philharmonic. Mackerras's last performance at the BBC Proms included Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience.[5] His final public performance saw him conduct Così fan tutte at Glyndebourne in the summer of 2010.[25]

Death

Mackerras died in London on 14 July 2010 at the age of 84, having suffered from cancer.[1][26] Throughout his final illness, he had continued to conduct, and had been scheduled to direct two of the BBC Proms on 25 July and 29 July 2010. He was also due to conduct the Scottish Chamber Orchestra performing Mozart's Idomeneo at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2010, which would have been his 56th appearance at the festival.[26][27] The director of the BBC Proms, Roger Wright, announced that a Prom would be dedicated to Mackerras's memory.[27] Wright paid tribute to Mackerras, saying "Sir Charles was a great conductor and his loss will be deeply felt by musicians and audiences alike",[27] while Rory Jeffes of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra said that Australia had "lost a living treasure".[27] Mackerras was survived by his wife, Judy, (1922–2014) and their daughter, Catherine.[3][4][28] His funeral was held at St Paul's, Covent Garden on 23 July 2010.[29]

Recordings

Mackerras made his earliest records for EMI, in the final days of 78 rpm records, and he continued recording well into the era of compact discs in the multi-channel Super Audio CD format. In 1952, he conducted his first recording of his own Pineapple Poll ballet, which was issued on twelve sides, and subsequently transferred to LP. He later conducted two more complete recordings of the ballet.[18] Some of his early recording sessions were for Walter Legge, standing in when Otto Klemperer and other eminent conductors were ill.[30] He did not always restrict himself to the classical repertoire. For example, on 4 May 1955 he recorded Albert Arlen's song Clancy of the Overflow (to Banjo Paterson's poem) with Peter Dawson and the London Symphony Orchestra.[31]

A smaller UK record company, Pye Records, asked Mackerras to record Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks. 'We had to do that in the middle of the night, in order to get our twenty-six oboes together.'[30] The recording, issued in 1959, was received with critical acclaim for attempting to reproduce the sound Handel would have heard, rather than the smoother orchestral arrangements usually played at that time.

In the 1960s Mackerras made the first recording of the Italian version of Gluck's Orfeo. For DG he conducted Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, and for HMV a 'new-look' Messiah, with scholarly texts, small forces and sprightly tempi. He followed that up with Handel's Saul and Israel in Egypt for DG. He also recorded the first complete Roberto Devereux with Beverly Sills. In 1986, he conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in the soundtrack to Carroll Ballard's film version of The Nutcracker (better known as Nutcracker: The Motion Picture), the first full-length film version of Tchaikovsky's ballet to be given a major release in theatres.

Mackerras recorded three Mahler symphonies and all of the symphonies of Mozart, Brahms and Beethoven.[14] Along with the Mozart operas, these recordings continue to attract critical acclaim; as do his recordings of the operas of Janáček (Decca, Supraphon, and Chandos), and major works of Handel, Dvořák, Martinů, Richard Strauss, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Donizetti, Elgar, Delius, Walton, Holst, and Haydn, among many others.

In 1953, he conducted Sullivan's cello concerto, broadcast on the BBC.[18] Sullivan's manuscript and most of the orchestra parts were destroyed in a fire, and more than three decades after that single BBC performance, in collaboration with David Mackie, Mackerras reconstructed the concerto, conducting its first performance with cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and the London Symphony Orchestra at Barbican Hall, London, in April 1986, and a recording for EMI shortly afterwards.[32][33] For Telarc in the 1990s, with Welsh National Opera's chorus and orchestra, he also conducted Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and The Yeomen of the Guard.[18]

Mackerras's discography also includes a recording of Britten's Gloriana, which won Gramophone magazine's "Best Opera Recording" in 1994.[14] In 1997, Mackerras recorded Le delizie dell'amor, with the soprano Andrea Rost, for Sony Classical. His most recent release for that label was Lucia di Lammermoor with the Hanover Band (S2K 63174). Other recent recordings for Sony Classical include Chopin's two piano concertos with Emanuel Ax and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (SK 60771) and (SK 63371). He also recorded Dvořák's Rusalka (Decca) and Slavonic Dances (Supraphon), Josef Suk's A Summer Tale (Decca), Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 20 and 24 with Alfred Brendel (Philips), and Brahms's two orchestral serenades (Telarc). For Linn Records he recorded a two-SACD set of Mozart's last four symphonies with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in August 2007.[34] His final recording was Suk's Asrael Symphony, which was the composer's response to the deaths of his father-in-law Dvořák and wife in quick succession. It was recorded not long after the death of Mackerras's own daughter Fiona.

Honours

Charles Mackerras was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1974 New Year Honours,[35] and was knighted in the 1979 New Year Honours.[36][37] In 1978, he was presented with the Janáček Medal for services to Czech music, on stage at the Coliseum Theatre, by the Czechoslovak ambassador.[38] In 1990, he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Hull. In 1996, he received the Medal of Merit from the Czech Republic, and, in 1997 he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for services to music and Australian music.[6][39] In 2000 he was awarded the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award by the Prague Society for International Cooperation.[40] In 2001, he was awarded the Centenary Medal, created to mark the centenary of the Federation of Australia.[41] In 2003 he was made a Companion of Honour (CH) in the Queen's Birthday Honours.[42] In 2005, he was presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal,[43] and he was also the first recipient of the Queen's Medal for Music, announced by the Master of the Queen's Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall before a Proms performance of H.M.S. Pinafore.[44] He was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Northern College of Music in 1999.[45]

Legacy

The Music Room at the Bodleian's Weston Library at Oxford University was named after Mackerras when it opened in 2015.[46]

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b Wilson, Ashleigh (15 July 2010). "Symphony mourns death of conductor Charles Mackerras". The Australian. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  2. ^ "Sir Charles Mackerras dies". The Daily Telegraph. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Sir Charles Mackerras". The Daily Telegraph. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Maunder, Patricia (16 July 2010). "Scion of an Australian dynasty conducted for the whole world". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Simeone, Nigel. "Sir Charles Mackerras (1925–2010): A Lifetime of Gilbert and Sullivan" (Part I), Gilbert and Sullivan News, Vol. V, No. 9, Autumn/Winter 2015, pp. 12–14, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society
  6. ^ a b c "Sir Charles Mackerras dies". Classic FM. Global Radio. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ a b Weaver, Matthew (15 July 2010). "Conductor Charles Mackerras dies". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  8. ^ Australasian Double Reed Society 19 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Blyth, Alan (15 July 2010). "Sir Charles Mackerras obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  10. ^ "Conductor led concert hours after death of his daughter", The Scotsman, 8 September 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2014
  11. ^ Meacham, Steve (22 August 2006). "A Dream Comes True". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  12. ^ "Camerata Chicago celebrates 10th anniversary". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  13. ^ Moss, Stephen (20 August 2005). "The modest maestro". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  14. ^ a b c Cutler, David (15 July 2010). "Factbox – Orchestra conductor Charles Mackerras dies". Reuters. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  15. ^ "S.A. Symphony Orchestra rehearsal". State Library of South Australia. 1962. Retrieved 30 October 2019. Photograph may only be viewed at the Library.
  16. ^ Phelan 1987, p. ??[page needed]
  17. ^ "National treasure made music until the end". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 16 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  18. ^ a b c d Simeone, Nigel. "Sir Charles MacKerras (1925–2010): A Lifetime of Gilbert and Sullivan", Gilbert and Sullivan News, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society (London), Vol. V, No. 10, Spring 2016, pp. 4–7
  19. ^ . 2008. Archived from the original on 23 August 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
  20. ^ Hurwitz, David (2000). . Classics Today. Archived from the original on 5 July 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  21. ^ "Who's Who". City Opera of Vancouver. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  22. ^ Simeone, Nigel; Tyrrell, John (2015). Charles Mackerras. ISBN 978-1-84383-966-8.
  23. ^ Anderson, Martin (16 July 2010). "Sir Charles Mackerras: Energetic and perceptive conductor celebrated in particular for popularising the works of Janacek". The Independent. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  24. ^ Redkite website
  25. ^ Christiansen, Rupert (15 July 2010). "A tribute to Sir Charles Mackerras". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  26. ^ a b "Conductor Sir Charles Mackerras dies". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  27. ^ a b c d "Conductor Sir Charles Mackerras dies aged 84". BBC News. BBC. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  28. ^ Wakin, Daniel J (15 July 2010). "Charles Mackerras, a Wide-Ranging Conductor, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  29. ^ "Charles Mackerras". The Times (personal announcements). 20 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  30. ^ a b Blyth, Alan (March 1975). "Charles Mackerras". The Gramophone. pp. 1, 626.
  31. ^ optus net
  32. ^ Shepherd, Marc. "Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in D (1866)", Discography of Sir Arthur Sullivan: Orchestral and Band Music, Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 12 July 2009, retrieved 2 October 2015
  33. ^ Stone, David (2002). "D'Oyly Carte Opera Company: Charles Mackerras". The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
  34. ^ "Entry for Mozart Symphonies 38–41". SA-CD.net. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
  35. ^ "No. 46162". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1974. p. 8.
  36. ^ "No. 47723". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1978. p. 1.
  37. ^ "No. 47792". The London Gazette. 13 March 1979. p. 3365.
  38. ^ Phelan 1987, p. ?[page needed]
  39. ^ Companion of the Order of Australia 22 September 2021(Date mismatch) at the Wayback Machine, AC, 26 January 1997, itsanhonour.gov.au. Citation: "For service to music as an operatic conductor and for the promotion of the international status of Australian music."
  40. ^ Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award 3 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 3 September 2014, praguesociety.org
  41. ^ Centenary Medal 22 February 2019(Date mismatch) at the Wayback Machine, 1 January 2001, itsanhonour.gov.au. Citation: "For service to Australian society and music"
  42. ^ "No. 56963". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 14 June 2003. p. 4.
  43. ^ "Gold Medallists 2000 to date". Royal Philharmonic Society. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
  44. ^ "First winner of The Queen's Medal for Music announced at BBC Proms". BBC. 16 July 2005. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
  45. ^ "Fellows and Honorary Members – Royal Northern College of Music".
  46. ^ "In Memoriam – Sir Charles Mackerras". Bodleian Library. Retrieved 28 July 2020.

Sources

  • Phelan, Nancy (1987). Charles Mackerras: A Musician's Musician. London: Victor Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-03620-6.
  • Priest, Joan (1986). Gentlemen and Scholars: A Biography of the Mackerras Family. Brisbane: Boolarong Publications. ISBN 0-86439-013-0.
  • Simeone, Nigel; John Tyrrell, eds. (2015). Charles Mackerras. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-84383-966-8.

External links

Cultural offices
Preceded by
Gilbert Vinter
Principal Conductor, BBC Concert Orchestra
1954–1956
Succeeded by
Preceded by Music Director, Sadler's Wells (English National Opera from 1974)
1970–1977
Succeeded by
Preceded by Music Director, Welsh National Opera
1987–1992
Succeeded by

charles, mackerras, alan, charles, maclaurin, mackerras, november, 1925, july, 2010, australian, conductor, authority, operas, janáček, mozart, comic, operas, gilbert, sullivan, long, associated, with, english, national, opera, predecessor, welsh, national, op. Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras AC CH CBE m e ˈ k ɛr e s 17 November 1925 14 July 2010 1 2 was an Australian conductor He was an authority on the operas of Janacek and Mozart and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan He was long associated with the English National Opera and its predecessor and Welsh National Opera and was the first Australian chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra He also specialized in Czech music as a whole producing many recordings for the Czech label Supraphon Mackerras in 2005 Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Early career 3 Later career 4 Death 5 Recordings 6 Honours 7 Legacy 8 References 9 External linksEarly life and education EditMackerras was born in Schenectady New York to Australian parents Alan Mackerras and Catherine MacLaurin 3 His father was an electrical engineer and a Quaker 3 Mackerras grew up in a very musical family and his mother was immensely cultured In 1928 when Charles was aged two the family returned to Sydney Australia They initially lived in the suburb of Rose Bay and in 1933 they moved to the then semi rural suburb of Turramurra 4 Mackerras was the eldest of seven children His siblings were Alastair 1928 99 Neil 1930 87 Joan 1934 2020 Elisabeth b 1937 and twins Malcolm and Colin b 1939 5 They are descendants of the pioneer Australian musician Isaac Nathan 3 Mackerras is related to the well known Australian Jewish composer Isaac Nathan and has Jewish ancestry 3 Mackerras studied violin at the age of seven and later the flute 3 He was setting poems to music at eight and wrote a piano concerto when he was 12 4 Mackerras initially attended his father s alma mater Sydney Grammar School and also St Aloysius College in Sydney 3 While at Sydney Grammar he showed a precocious talent by composing operas and conducting student performances in his early teens but his non musical studies suffered 4 At all male St Aloysius he participated in the school s Gilbert and Sullivan productions playing the roles of Kate in The Pirates of Penzance Leila in Iolanthe and Ko Ko in The Mikado 5 Unconvinced that music was a viable profession his parents removed the young Mackerras from temptation by sending him to board at The King s School The school s focus on sport and discipline led the young artist to run away several times and he was eventually expelled 4 At age 16 Mackerras studied oboe piano and composition at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music He earned additional income from writing orchestral scores from recordings 4 Early career EditBy 1941 while still at the conservatory Mackerras began to get professional performing jobs in Sydney partly because he was too young to join the military while older musicians had been called up to go to the war From 1941 to 1942 Mackerras played the oboe for the J C Williamson Company during one of their Gilbert and Sullivan seasons and he was a rehearsal pianist for the Kirsova ballet company 5 In 1943 Mackerras joined the ABC Sydney Orchestra under Malcolm Sargent as second oboist and at age 19 became principal oboist 4 6 7 On 6 February 1947 Mackerras sailed for England on the RMS Rangitiki 3 intending to pursue conducting 4 He joined Sadler s Wells Theatre as an orchestral oboist and cor anglais player 3 He later won a British Council Scholarship enabling him to study conducting with Vaclav Talich at the Prague Academy of Music 3 4 While there he formed a strong friendship with Jiri Tancibudek Principal Oboe of the Czech Philharmonic who introduced him to the operas of Leos Janacek thus commencing Mackerras s lifelong passion for that composer s music 8 In August 1947 shortly before the couple set off for Prague Mackerras married Judy Wilkins a clarinettist at Sadlers Wells 5 They had two daughters Fiona and Catherine 4 9 Fiona died of cancer in September 2006 10 He was also the uncle of the Australian conductor Alexander Briger 11 and the British born American conductor Drostan Hall Music Director of Camerata Chicago 12 Returning to England from Prague in 1948 Mackerras rejoined Sadler s Wells as an assistant conductor and began his lifelong association with the Sadler s Wells Opera now English National Opera conducting among others Janacek Handel Gluck Bach and Donizetti 3 4 In the 1950s well before the authenticity movement had come to general notice Mackerras focused on the study and practical realization of period performance techniques culminating in his landmark 1959 recording of Handel s Music for the Royal Fireworks using the original wind band instrumentation In his 1965 performance of The Marriage of Figaro he added the ornamentation in a historically informed style Mackerras also strongly championed the music of Janacek outside Czechoslovakia where Mackerras himself judged his work with Janacek as his single most important legacy to music 13 In 1951 he conducted the British premiere of Kata Kabanova He was also a noted authority on Mozart s operas and those of Sir Arthur Sullivan His ballet with John Cranko Pineapple Poll is an arrangement of Sullivan music with a story based on one of W S Gilbert s Bab Ballads The piece premiered in 1951 soon after the expiration of copyright on Sullivan s music and continues to be a popular light music favourite in English speaking countries 5 Mackerras later arranged music by Giuseppe Verdi for the ballet The Lady and the Fool He also arranged a suite from John Ireland s score for the 1946 film The Overlanders after Ireland s death in 1962 He was principal conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra from 1954 to 1956 14 In 1962 he conducted the S A Symphony Orchestra in the Australian premiere of Strauss s Ariadne auf Naxos as part of the Adelaide Festival 15 with Adelaide born Una Hale in the title role In 1963 he made his debut at London s Covent Garden conducting Shostakovich s Katerina Izmailova He directed the Hamburg State Opera from 1965 to 1969 and the English National Opera from 1970 to 1977 16 In 1972 he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in New York conducting Gluck s Orfeo ed Euridice Mackerras worked closely with Benjamin Britten for a time until 1958 when during rehearsals for the first performance of Britten s opera Noye s Fludde he made comments about Britten liking prepubescent boys company and Britten subsequently stopped speaking to him 3 4 He conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Birgit Nilsson in the opening concert of the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II in 1973 7 17 Later career EditMackerras had conducted a few Gilbert and Sullivan productions for English National Opera but his first experience as a guest conductor of the D Oyly Carte Opera Company was for Trial by Jury The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado during the 1975 D Oyly Carte centenary season at the Savoy He conducted Patience at the Proms in 1976 the first full length Gilbert and Sullivan opera given complete at the Proms In 1980 he joined the D Oyly Carte Opera Trust and later its board of trustees In the early 1980s he conducted two New Year s Eve broadcasts of Savoy operas for the BBC and his recordings of eight of the operas were broadcast in 1989 by BBC Radio 2 as part of a complete Gilbert and Sullivan series He also conducted a centennial performance of Sullivan s The Golden Legend in Leeds and the first staging of a complete Gilbert and Sullivan opera at the Royal Opera House The Yeomen of the Guard with Welsh National Opera in 1995 18 In 1980 also he became the first non Briton to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Last Night of the Proms 3 In 1982 Mackerras was the first Australian national appointed chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra a post he held until 1985 4 he directed the Welsh National Opera from 1987 to 1992 where his Janacek productions won particular praise One of the highlights of the 1991 season was the reopening of the Estates Theatre in Prague scene of the original premiere of Mozart s Don Giovanni in which Mackerras conducted a new production of that opera to mark the bicentenary of Mozart s death As Conductor Emeritus of Welsh National Opera his successes included Tristan und Isolde The Yeomen of the Guard and La clemenza di Tito all of which productions were brought to London He was the principal guest conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra SCO from 1992 to 1995 and held the title of Conductor Laureate with the SCO He was principal guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1993 to 1996 During the same period he was also principal guest conductor of the San Francisco Opera From 1998 to 2001 he was the music director of the Orchestra of St Luke s From 1987 he regularly conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and was appointed Emeritus Conductor in 2007 In 2004 he became principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra He was also principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic With the Royal Opera he conducted productions of Gounod s Romeo et Juliette and Handel s Semele Mackerras also had a long association with the Metropolitan Opera where he conducted The Makropulos Case Kata Kabanova Le prophete Lucia di Lammermoor Billy Budd Hansel and Gretel and The Magic Flute In August 2008 Mackerras was announced as the new Honorary President of the Edinburgh International Festival Society 19 He was only the second person to hold this role after Yehudi Menuhin As the original part of the largest arts festival in the world the Edinburgh International Festival featured performances from Mackerras throughout six decades since his first in 1952 Mackerras summarised his strategy for working with an orchestra as follows I believe it s very important to edit orchestral parts explicitly and as thoroughly as possible so that the musicians can play them without too much rehearsal For instance the other day I did all the Schumann symphonies with very little rehearsal at all Because the parts were clearly marked particularly with regard to dynamics we were able to play them without needing to do that much preliminary work focusing our attention on the interpretation rather than the technical business of who plays too loud or too soft 20 Mackerras was the President of Trinity College of Music London 6 He also served as Music Advisor to City Opera of Vancouver a professional chamber opera company led by conductor Charles Barber 21 He was also a Patron of Bampton Classical Opera 22 23 From 1999 Mackerras was a Patron of the Australian children s cancer charity Redkite 24 On 18 December 2008 Mackerras served as the conductor for Alfred Brendel s final concert performance with the Vienna Philharmonic Mackerras s last performance at the BBC Proms included Gilbert and Sullivan s Patience 5 His final public performance saw him conduct Cosi fan tutte at Glyndebourne in the summer of 2010 25 Death EditMackerras died in London on 14 July 2010 at the age of 84 having suffered from cancer 1 26 Throughout his final illness he had continued to conduct and had been scheduled to direct two of the BBC Proms on 25 July and 29 July 2010 He was also due to conduct the Scottish Chamber Orchestra performing Mozart s Idomeneo at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2010 which would have been his 56th appearance at the festival 26 27 The director of the BBC Proms Roger Wright announced that a Prom would be dedicated to Mackerras s memory 27 Wright paid tribute to Mackerras saying Sir Charles was a great conductor and his loss will be deeply felt by musicians and audiences alike 27 while Rory Jeffes of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra said that Australia had lost a living treasure 27 Mackerras was survived by his wife Judy 1922 2014 and their daughter Catherine 3 4 28 His funeral was held at St Paul s Covent Garden on 23 July 2010 29 Recordings EditMackerras made his earliest records for EMI in the final days of 78 rpm records and he continued recording well into the era of compact discs in the multi channel Super Audio CD format In 1952 he conducted his first recording of his own Pineapple Poll ballet which was issued on twelve sides and subsequently transferred to LP He later conducted two more complete recordings of the ballet 18 Some of his early recording sessions were for Walter Legge standing in when Otto Klemperer and other eminent conductors were ill 30 He did not always restrict himself to the classical repertoire For example on 4 May 1955 he recorded Albert Arlen s song Clancy of the Overflow to Banjo Paterson s poem with Peter Dawson and the London Symphony Orchestra 31 A smaller UK record company Pye Records asked Mackerras to record Handel s Music for the Royal Fireworks We had to do that in the middle of the night in order to get our twenty six oboes together 30 The recording issued in 1959 was received with critical acclaim for attempting to reproduce the sound Handel would have heard rather than the smoother orchestral arrangements usually played at that time In the 1960s Mackerras made the first recording of the Italian version of Gluck s Orfeo For DG he conducted Purcell s Dido and Aeneas and for HMV a new look Messiah with scholarly texts small forces and sprightly tempi He followed that up with Handel s Saul and Israel in Egypt for DG He also recorded the first complete Roberto Devereux with Beverly Sills In 1986 he conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in the soundtrack to Carroll Ballard s film version of The Nutcracker better known as Nutcracker The Motion Picture the first full length film version of Tchaikovsky s ballet to be given a major release in theatres Mackerras recorded three Mahler symphonies and all of the symphonies of Mozart Brahms and Beethoven 14 Along with the Mozart operas these recordings continue to attract critical acclaim as do his recordings of the operas of Janacek Decca Supraphon and Chandos and major works of Handel Dvorak Martinu Richard Strauss Shostakovich Sibelius Donizetti Elgar Delius Walton Holst and Haydn among many others In 1953 he conducted Sullivan s cello concerto broadcast on the BBC 18 Sullivan s manuscript and most of the orchestra parts were destroyed in a fire and more than three decades after that single BBC performance in collaboration with David Mackie Mackerras reconstructed the concerto conducting its first performance with cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and the London Symphony Orchestra at Barbican Hall London in April 1986 and a recording for EMI shortly afterwards 32 33 For Telarc in the 1990s with Welsh National Opera s chorus and orchestra he also conducted Gilbert and Sullivan s Trial by Jury H M S Pinafore The Pirates of Penzance The Mikado and The Yeomen of the Guard 18 Mackerras s discography also includes a recording of Britten s Gloriana which won Gramophone magazine s Best Opera Recording in 1994 14 In 1997 Mackerras recorded Le delizie dell amor with the soprano Andrea Rost for Sony Classical His most recent release for that label was Lucia di Lammermoor with the Hanover Band S2K 63174 Other recent recordings for Sony Classical include Chopin s two piano concertos with Emanuel Ax and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment SK 60771 and SK 63371 He also recorded Dvorak s Rusalka Decca and Slavonic Dances Supraphon Josef Suk s A Summer Tale Decca Mozart s Piano Concertos Nos 20 and 24 with Alfred Brendel Philips and Brahms s two orchestral serenades Telarc For Linn Records he recorded a two SACD set of Mozart s last four symphonies with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in August 2007 34 His final recording was Suk s Asrael Symphony which was the composer s response to the deaths of his father in law Dvorak and wife in quick succession It was recorded not long after the death of Mackerras s own daughter Fiona Honours EditCharles Mackerras was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire CBE in the 1974 New Year Honours 35 and was knighted in the 1979 New Year Honours 36 37 In 1978 he was presented with the Janacek Medal for services to Czech music on stage at the Coliseum Theatre by the Czechoslovak ambassador 38 In 1990 he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Hull In 1996 he received the Medal of Merit from the Czech Republic and in 1997 he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia AC for services to music and Australian music 6 39 In 2000 he was awarded the Hanno R Ellenbogen Citizenship Award by the Prague Society for International Cooperation 40 In 2001 he was awarded the Centenary Medal created to mark the centenary of the Federation of Australia 41 In 2003 he was made a Companion of Honour CH in the Queen s Birthday Honours 42 In 2005 he was presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal 43 and he was also the first recipient of the Queen s Medal for Music announced by the Master of the Queen s Music Sir Peter Maxwell Davies on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall before a Proms performance of H M S Pinafore 44 He was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Northern College of Music in 1999 45 Legacy EditThe Music Room at the Bodleian s Weston Library at Oxford University was named after Mackerras when it opened in 2015 46 References EditNotes a b Wilson Ashleigh 15 July 2010 Symphony mourns death of conductor Charles Mackerras The Australian Retrieved 15 July 2010 Sir Charles Mackerras dies The Daily Telegraph 15 July 2010 Retrieved 15 July 2010 a b c d e f g h i j k l m Sir Charles Mackerras The Daily Telegraph 15 July 2010 Retrieved 15 July 2010 a b c d e f g h i j k l m Maunder Patricia 16 July 2010 Scion of an Australian dynasty conducted for the whole world The Sydney Morning Herald Fairfax Media Retrieved 16 July 2010 a b c d e f Simeone Nigel Sir Charles Mackerras 1925 2010 A Lifetime of Gilbert and Sullivan Part I Gilbert and Sullivan News Vol V No 9 Autumn Winter 2015 pp 12 14 The Gilbert and Sullivan Society a b c Sir Charles Mackerras dies Classic FM Global Radio 15 July 2010 Retrieved 15 July 2010 permanent dead link a b Weaver Matthew 15 July 2010 Conductor Charles Mackerras dies The Guardian Retrieved 15 July 2010 Australasian Double Reed Society Archived 19 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine Blyth Alan 15 July 2010 Sir Charles Mackerras obituary The Guardian Retrieved 15 July 2010 Conductor led concert hours after death of his daughter The Scotsman 8 September 2006 Retrieved 16 October 2014 Meacham Steve 22 August 2006 A Dream Comes True The Sydney Morning Herald Fairfax Media Retrieved 15 July 2010 Camerata Chicago celebrates 10th anniversary tribunedigital chicagotribune Retrieved 13 December 2015 Moss Stephen 20 August 2005 The modest maestro The Guardian Retrieved 18 September 2007 a b c Cutler David 15 July 2010 Factbox Orchestra conductor Charles Mackerras dies Reuters Retrieved 15 July 2010 S A Symphony Orchestra rehearsal State Library of South Australia 1962 Retrieved 30 October 2019 Photograph may only be viewed at the Library Phelan 1987 p page needed National treasure made music until the end The Sydney Morning Herald Fairfax Media 16 July 2010 Retrieved 15 July 2010 a b c d Simeone Nigel Sir Charles MacKerras 1925 2010 A Lifetime of Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan News The Gilbert and Sullivan Society London Vol V No 10 Spring 2016 pp 4 7 Edinburgh International Festival Society Announces Sir Charles Mackerras as New Honorary President 2008 Archived from the original on 23 August 2008 Retrieved 24 August 2008 Hurwitz David 2000 A Talk With Sir Charles Mackerras Classics Today Archived from the original on 5 July 2007 Retrieved 15 April 2007 Who s Who City Opera of Vancouver Retrieved 15 July 2010 Simeone Nigel Tyrrell John 2015 Charles Mackerras ISBN 978 1 84383 966 8 Anderson Martin 16 July 2010 Sir Charles Mackerras Energetic and perceptive conductor celebrated in particular for popularising the works of Janacek The Independent Retrieved 4 April 2020 Redkite website Christiansen Rupert 15 July 2010 A tribute to Sir Charles Mackerras The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 15 July 2010 a b Conductor Sir Charles Mackerras dies The Sydney Morning Herald Fairfax Media 15 July 2010 Retrieved 15 July 2010 a b c d Conductor Sir Charles Mackerras dies aged 84 BBC News BBC 15 July 2010 Retrieved 15 July 2010 Wakin Daniel J 15 July 2010 Charles Mackerras a Wide Ranging Conductor Dies at 84 The New York Times Retrieved 15 July 2010 Charles Mackerras The Times personal announcements 20 July 2010 Retrieved 20 July 2010 a b Blyth Alan March 1975 Charles Mackerras The Gramophone pp 1 626 optus net Shepherd Marc Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in D 1866 Discography of Sir Arthur Sullivan Orchestral and Band Music Gilbert and Sullivan Discography 12 July 2009 retrieved 2 October 2015 Stone David 2002 D Oyly Carte Opera Company Charles Mackerras The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive Retrieved 11 June 2007 Entry for Mozart Symphonies 38 41 SA CD net Retrieved 5 June 2008 No 46162 The London Gazette Supplement 1 January 1974 p 8 No 47723 The London Gazette Supplement 30 December 1978 p 1 No 47792 The London Gazette 13 March 1979 p 3365 Phelan 1987 p page needed Companion of the Order of Australia Archived 22 September 2021 Date mismatch at the Wayback Machine AC 26 January 1997 itsanhonour gov au Citation For service to music as an operatic conductor and for the promotion of the international status of Australian music Hanno R Ellenbogen Citizenship Award Archived 3 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine 3 September 2014 praguesociety org Centenary Medal Archived 22 February 2019 Date mismatch at the Wayback Machine 1 January 2001 itsanhonour gov au Citation For service to Australian society and music No 56963 The London Gazette 1st supplement 14 June 2003 p 4 Gold Medallists 2000 to date Royal Philharmonic Society Retrieved 14 September 2009 First winner of The Queen s Medal for Music announced at BBC Proms BBC 16 July 2005 Retrieved 14 September 2009 Fellows and Honorary Members Royal Northern College of Music In Memoriam Sir Charles Mackerras Bodleian Library Retrieved 28 July 2020 Sources Phelan Nancy 1987 Charles Mackerras A Musician s Musician London Victor Gollancz ISBN 0 575 03620 6 Priest Joan 1986 Gentlemen and Scholars A Biography of the Mackerras Family Brisbane Boolarong Publications ISBN 0 86439 013 0 Simeone Nigel John Tyrrell eds 2015 Charles Mackerras Woodbridge Boydell Press ISBN 978 1 84383 966 8 External links EditCharles Mackerras at AllMusic Charles Mackerras at the Bach Cantatas Website Charles Mackerras at IMDb Charles Mackerras profile and interview at ClassicsToday com Charles Mackerras biography and interview at the Philharmonia Orchestra Interview with Charles Mackerras at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Profile focusing on Mackerras s Sullivan connections Charles Mackerras website Recent profile of Mackerras Clip of Mackerras conducting on YouTube Photos of Mackerras throughout his life Mackerras and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House Opening Concert in 1973 Interview with Charles Mackerras 6 November 1986Cultural officesPreceded byGilbert Vinter Principal Conductor BBC Concert Orchestra1954 1956 Succeeded byVilem TauskyPreceded byBryan Balkwill and Mario Bernardi Music Director Sadler s Wells English National Opera from 1974 1970 1977 Succeeded byCharles GrovesPreceded byRichard Armstrong Music Director Welsh National Opera1987 1992 Succeeded byCarlo Rizzi Portals Biography Classical music Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Charles Mackerras amp oldid 1146585880, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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