Sir Charles Mackerras | |
|---|---|
 Mackerras in 2005. | |
| Born | Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras 17 November 1925 Schenectady, New York, United States |
| Died | 14 July 2010(2010-07-14) (aged 84) London, England |
| Occupation | Conductor |
Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (/məˈkɛrəs/; (17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010[1][2]) was an American-born Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas ofJanáček andMozart, and thecomic operas ofGilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with theEnglish National Opera (and its predecessor) andWelsh National Opera and was the first Australian chief conductor of theSydney Symphony Orchestra. He also specialized in Czech music as a whole, producing many recordings for the Czech labelSupraphon.
Mackerras was born inSchenectady, New York, to Australian parents, Alan Mackerras and Catherine MacLaurin.[3] His father was an electrical engineer and aQuaker.[3] Mackerras grew up in a musical family and his mother was immensely cultured.[4] In 1928, when Charles was aged two, the family returned to Sydney. They initially lived in the suburb ofRose Bay, and in 1933 they moved to the then semi-rural suburb ofTurramurra.[5] Mackerras was the eldest of seven children. His siblings were Alastair (1928–99),Neil (1930–87), Joan (1934–2020), Elisabeth (b. 1937) and twinsMalcolm andColin (b. 1939).[6] They are descendants of the pioneer Australian-Jewish composer and musicianIsaac Nathan.[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.[5]
Mackerras initially attended his father's alma mater,Sydney Grammar School, and alsoSt 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.[5] At the all-male St Aloysius, he participated in the school'sGilbert and Sullivan productions, playing the roles of Kate inThe Pirates of Penzance, Leila inIolanthe and Ko-Ko inThe Mikado.[6] Unconvinced that music was a viable profession, his parents removed the young Mackerras from temptation by sending him to board atThe 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.[5] At age 16, Mackerras studied oboe, piano and composition at theNSW State Conservatorium of Music. He earned additional income from writing orchestral scores from recordings.[5]
By 1941, while still at the conservatorium, 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. In 1941 and 1942, Mackerras played the oboe for theJ. C. Williamson Company during one of their Gilbert and Sullivan seasons, and he was a rehearsal pianist for the Kirsova ballet company.[6] In 1943, Mackerras joined theABC Sydney Orchestra, underMalcolm Sargent, as second oboist and at age 19, became principal oboist.[5][7][8] On6 February 1947, Mackerras sailed for England on the RMS Rangitiki[3] intending to pursue conducting.[5] He joinedSadler's Wells Theatre as an orchestral oboist andcor anglais player.[3] He later won aBritish Council Scholarship, enabling him to study conducting withVáclav Talich at the Prague Academy of Music.[3][5] While there, he formed a strong friendship withJiří Tancibudek, Principal Oboe of theCzech Philharmonic, who introduced him to the operas ofLeoš Janáček, thus commencing Mackerras's lifelong passion for that composer's music.[9]
In August 1947, shortly before the couple set off for Prague, Mackerras married Judy Wilkins, a clarinettist at Sadlers' Wells.[6] They had two daughters, Fiona and Catherine.[5][10] Fiona died of cancer in September 2006.[11] He was also the uncle of the Australian conductorAlexander Briger[12] and the British-born American conductor Drostan Hall, Music Director ofCamerata Chicago.[13]
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, nowEnglish National Opera, conducting, among others, Janáček,Handel,Gluck,Bach, andDonizetti.[3][5] 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'sMusic for the Royal Fireworks using the original wind band instrumentation. In his 1965 performance ofThe Marriage of Figaro, he added theornamentation in ahistorically 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.[14] In 1951, he conducted the British premiere ofKáťa Kabanová. He was also a noted authority onMozart's operas and those of SirArthur Sullivan. His ballet withJohn Cranko,Pineapple Poll, is an arrangement of Sullivan music with a story based on one ofW. S. Gilbert'sBab 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.[6] Mackerras later arranged music byGiuseppe Verdi for the balletThe Lady and the Fool. He also arranged a suite fromJohn Ireland's score for the 1946 filmThe Overlanders, after Ireland's death in 1962.
He was principal conductor of theBBC Concert Orchestra from 1954 to 1956.[15] In 1962, he conducted theSouth Australian Symphony Orchestra in the Australian première ofRichard Strauss'sAriadne auf Naxos as part of theAdelaide Festival,[16] with Adelaide-bornUna Hale in the title role.
In 1963, he made his debut at London's Covent Garden conductingDmitri Shostakovich'sKaterina Izmailova. He directed theHamburg State Opera from 1965 to 1969 and theEnglish National Opera from 1970 to 1977.[17] In 1972, he made hisMetropolitan Opera debut in New York conducting Gluck'sOrfeo ed Euridice. Mackerras worked closely withBenjamin Britten for a time until 1958, when, during rehearsals for the first performance of Britten's operaNoye's Fludde, he made comments about Britten liking the company of prepubescent boys, and Britten subsequently stopped speaking to him.[3][5]
He conducted theSydney Symphony Orchestra andBirgit Nilsson in the opening concert of the Concert Hall of theSydney Opera House, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, in 1973.[8][18]
Mackerras had conducted a few Gilbert and Sullivan productions for English National Opera, but his first experience as a guest conductor of theD'Oyly Carte Opera Company was forTrial by Jury,The Pirates of Penzance andThe Mikado during the 1975 D'Oyly Carte centenary season at the Savoy. He conductedPatience at the Proms in 1976, the first full-length Gilbert and Sullivan opera given in its entirety 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 ofSavoy 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'sThe Golden Legend in Leeds and the first staging of a complete Gilbert and Sullivan opera at theRoyal Opera House,The Yeomen of the Guard, withWelsh National Opera in 1995.[19] In 1980, also, he became the first non-Briton to conduct theBBC Symphony Orchestra at theLast 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.[5] 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'sDon 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 includedTristan und Isolde,The Yeomen of the Guard, andLa clemenza di Tito (all of whose productions were brought to London). He was the principal guest conductor of theScottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) from 1992 to 1995 and held the title of Conductor Laureate with the SCO. He was principal guest conductor of theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1993 to 1996. During the same period, he was also principal guest conductor of theSan Francisco Opera. From 1998 to 2001 he was the music director of theOrchestra of St. Luke's. From 1987, he regularly conducted theOrchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and was appointed Emeritus Conductor in 2007.
In 2004 he became principal guest conductor of thePhilharmonia Orchestra. He was also principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. With the Royal Opera, he conducted productions ofGounod'sRoméo et Juliette andHandel'sSemele. Mackerras also had a long association with theMetropolitan Opera, where he conductedThe Makropulos Case,Káťa Kabanová,Le prophète,Lucia di Lammermoor,Billy Budd,Hansel and Gretel andThe Magic Flute.
In August 2008, Mackerras was announced as the newHonorary President of theEdinburgh International Festival Society.[20] He was only the second person to hold this role, afterYehudi Menuhin. As the original part of thelargest 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 theSchumann 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.[21]
Mackerras was the President ofTrinity College of Music, London.[7] He also served as Music Advisor toCity Opera of Vancouver, a professional chamber opera company led by conductor Charles Barber.[22] He was also a Patron ofBampton Classical Opera.[23][24] From 1999 Mackerras was a Patron of the Australian children's cancer charity Redkite.[25]
On 18 December 2008, Mackerras served as the conductor forAlfred Brendel's final concert performance with theVienna Philharmonic. Mackerras's last performance at theBBC Proms was conducting Gilbert and Sullivan'sPatience.[6] His final public performance saw him conductCosì fan tutte atGlyndebourne in the summer of 2010.[26]
Mackerras died in London on 14 July 2010 at the age of 84, having suffered from cancer.[1][27] Throughout his final illness, he had continued to conduct, and had been scheduled to direct two of theBBC Proms on25 July and29 July 2010. He was also due to conduct theScottish Chamber Orchestra performing Mozart'sIdomeneo at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2010, which would have been his 56th appearance at the festival.[27][28] The director of the BBC Proms, Roger Wright, announced that a Prom would be dedicated to Mackerras's memory.[28] Wright paid tribute to Mackerras, saying "Sir Charles was a great conductor and his loss will be deeply felt by musicians and audiences alike",[28] while Rory Jeffes of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra said that Australia had "lost a living treasure".[28] Mackerras was survived by his wife, Judy (1922–2014) and their daughter, Catherine.[3][5][29] His funeral was held atSt Paul's, Covent Garden on 23 July 2010.[30]
Mackerras made his earliest records forEMI, in the final days of 78 rpm records, and he continued recording well into the era of compact discs in the multi-channelSuper Audio CD format. In 1952, he conducted his first recording of his ownPineapple Poll ballet, which was issued on twelve sides, and subsequently transferred to LP. He later conducted two more complete recordings of the ballet.[19] Some of his early recording sessions were forWalter Legge, standing in whenOtto Klemperer and other eminent conductors were ill.[31] He did not always restrict himself to the classical repertoire. For example, on4 May 1955 he recordedAlbert Arlen's songClancy of the Overflow (toBanjo Paterson's poem) withPeter Dawson and theLondon Symphony Orchestra.[32]
A smaller UK record company,Pye Records, asked Mackerras to record Handel'sMusic for the Royal Fireworks. 'We had to do that in the middle of the night, in order to get our twenty-six oboes together.'[31] 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'sOrfeo. ForDG he conducted Purcell'sDido and Aeneas, and for HMV a 'new-look'Messiah, with scholarly texts, small forces and sprightly tempi. He followed that up with Handel'sSaul andIsrael in Egypt for DG. He also recorded the first completeRoberto Devereux withBeverly Sills. In 1986, he conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in the soundtrack toCarroll Ballard's film version ofThe Nutcracker (better known asNutcracker: The Motion Picture), the first full-length film version ofTchaikovsky's ballet to be given a major release in theatres.
Mackerras recorded threeMahler symphonies and all of the symphonies of Mozart,Brahms andBeethoven.[15] 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, andHaydn, among many others.
In 1953, he conducted Sullivan'scello concerto, broadcast on the BBC.[19] 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 cellistJulian Lloyd Webber and the London Symphony Orchestra atBarbican Hall, London, in April 1986, and a recording for EMI shortly afterwards.[33][34] ForTelarc in the 1990s, withWelsh National Opera's chorus and orchestra, he also conducted Gilbert and Sullivan'sTrial by Jury,H.M.S. Pinafore,The Pirates of Penzance,The Mikado andThe Yeomen of the Guard.[19]
Mackerras's discography also includes a recording of Britten'sGloriana, which wonGramophone magazine's "Best Opera Recording" in 1994.[15] In 1997, Mackerras recordedLe delizie dell'amor, with the sopranoAndrea Rost, for Sony Classical. His latest release for that label wasLucia di Lammermoor with the Hanover Band (S2K 63174). Other later recordings for Sony Classical includeChopin's two piano concertos withEmanuel Ax and theOrchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (SK 60771) and (SK 63371). He also recorded Dvořák'sRusalka (Decca) andSlavonic Dances (Supraphon),Josef Suk'sA Summer Tale (Decca), Mozart'sPiano Concertos Nos. 20 and 24 withAlfred Brendel (Philips), and Brahms'stwo orchestral serenades (Telarc). ForLinn Records he recorded a two-SACD set of Mozart's last four symphonies with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in August 2007.[35] His final recording was Suk'sAsrael Symphony, which was the composer's response to the deaths in quick succession of his father-in-law Dvořák and his wife. It was recorded not long after the death of Mackerras's own daughter Fiona.
Charles Mackerras was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the1974 New Year Honours,[36] and wasknighted in the1979 New Year Honours.[37][38] In 1978, he was presented with the Janáček Medal for services to Czech music, on stage at theColiseum Theatre, by the Czechoslovak ambassador.[39] In 1990, he was awarded an honorary degree by theUniversity of Hull. In 1996, he received the Medal of Merit from the Czech Republic, and, in 1997 he was made aCompanion of the Order of Australia (AC) for services to music and Australian music.[7][40] In 2000, he was awarded theHanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award presented jointly by thePrague Society for International Cooperation and Global Panel Foundation.[41] In 2001, he was awarded theCentenary Medal, created to mark the centenary of theFederation of Australia.[42] In 2003 he was made aMember of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in theQueen's Birthday Honours.[43] In 2005, he was presented with theRoyal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal,[44] and he was also the first recipient of theQueen's Medal for Music, announced by theMaster of the Queen's Music, SirPeter Maxwell Davies, on the stage of theRoyal Albert Hall before a Proms performance ofH.M.S. Pinafore.[45] He was awarded a Fellowship of theRoyal Northern College of Music in 1999.[46]
The Music Room at the Bodleian'sWeston Library atOxford University was named after Mackerras when it opened in 2015.[47]
Notes
Sources
| 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 |
