It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of Sir Charles Mackerras. Chandos has enjoyed a long association with Sir Charles, one of the great conductors of the recording era. His distinguished career really goes back to the 1940s when he began a life-long association with Sadler’s Wells Opera (now the English National Opera), where he conducted a vast repertoire, from Bach to, most significantly, Janá?ek. He was also at the forefront of period performance practice, and recorded a legendary performance of Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks in 1959, as impressive today as it was when it first appeared. His performances of Mozart were impressive too, for their informed use of ornamentation as much as for the sparkle of the playing. Indeed, his performances and recordings are uniformly notable for their exhilarating freshness and infectious spontaneity. |
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Of course, Sir Charles is perhaps most famous for his championing of the music of Janácek and recorded a landmark series of Janácek’s operas for Decca, as well as EMI and Chandos (Osud, The Makropulos Case and Jen?fa, among many others) as well as the original version of the Glagolitic Mass. Also, for Chandos, he conducted a Grammy Award winning version of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. His classic recordings made at the ENO – Mary Stuart, Werther, La traviata and Julius Caesar – are an important part of Chandos’ Opera in English series and all received superb critical acclaim, comparing well to the best recordings available in whatever language. |
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Whilst Sir Charles was a great expert on Janá?ek, and Czech music in general, his other great passion was the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan. He was a supreme Gilbert and Sullivan conductor and his arrangement of music by Sullivan to form the ballet Pineapple Poll is one of the most successful of its kind. Indeed, he recorded it several times and the ballet has become a staple of the British light music repertoire. His arrangement of music by Verdi for the ballet The Lady and the Fool is hardly less successful, and very enjoyable.
Sir Charles Mackerras was a consummate musician, able to communicate with absolute clarity to the orchestra the results he wanted. He possessed a flair for eliciting the results he wanted, which rarely, if ever, failed him.
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Ralph Couzens, the Managing Director of Chandos Records, comments: ‘Sir Charles was a great musician with impressive attention to detail, no matter what the repertoire. He brought life to whatever he did. His few recordings on Chandos have all been highly acclaimed. He will be missed very much and may he rest in peace.’
Indeed, as a man and a supreme musician Sir Charles Mackerras achieved legendary status in his own lifetime. Our deepest sympathy is with Lady Mackerras and their daughter.
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