Sir Charles Mackerras
Download Sir Charles Mackerras' biography (in PDF format, 66KB).
Sir Charles Mackerras - The Conductor
Born in 1925 of Australian parents in America, Sir Charles Mackerras studied in Sydney and Prague and made his debut as an opera conductor at Sadler’s Wells. He was First Conductor of the Hamburg Opera (1966-69) and Musical Director of both Sadler’s Wells (later English National Opera) (1970-77), and of Welsh National Opera (1987-92), where his notable Janáček productions, amongst many others, were acclaimed.
From 1976-79 Sir Charles was Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and also conducted the opening public concert at the Sydney Opera House. Sir Charles is Conductor Laureate of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Conductor Emeritus of the Welsh National Opera and Principal Guest Conductor Emeritus of the San Francisco Opera.
A specialist in Czech repertory, Sir Charles is Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, following his life-long association with both the Orchestra and many aspects of Czech musical life.
Sir Charles Mackerras - A Pioneer in Performance Practice
Sir Charles has undertaken much research into performance practice of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. One of the highlights of the 1991 season was the re-opening of the Estates Theatre in Prague, scene of the original premiere of Don Giovanni. Sir Charles conducted a new production of that opera to mark the bi-centenary of Mozart’s death.
He has recorded all Mozart’s Symphonies and Serenades with the Prague Chamber Orchestra. With the Scottish Chamber Orchestra he has recorded seven Mozart operas, most recently La Clemenza di Tito, following a performance at the 2005 Edinburgh International Festival.
Sir Charles Mackerras - His Recordings
His vast discography includes an award-winning cycle of Janáček operas with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten’s Gloriana (awarded ‘Gramophone’ magazine’s Best Opera Recording for 1994) and Dvořák’s Rusalka with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (awarded ‘Gramophone’ magazine’s ‘Best Opera Recording’ and ‘Best Recording of the Year’, the ‘Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik’, ‘Prix Caecilia’ and ‘Edison Award’ for 1999).
Notable are his recordings with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra of Beethoven’s and Mahler’s symphonies and Brahms’s four symphonies with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Sir Charles and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra have recently recorded eight Mozart concertos with Alfred Brendel.
He has recorded much Czech music with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, including Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances, Smetana’s Ma Vlast, Martinu’s Field Mass and Double Concerto and Janáček's Kat’a Kabanova, Sarka and the Glagolitic Mass all for Supraphon. He has recently recorded The Magic Flute for Chandos records.
Sir Charles Mackerras - The Opera House Conductor
Sir Charles has for many years been associated with the Royal Opera House and since 1964 he has conducted 28 operas there, most recently Un Ballo in Maschera, which opened on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
In addition to his many appearances with the San Francisco Opera, he has a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, New York. He also made his debut at the Salzburg Festival, with the Vienna Philharmonic, conducting Le Nozze di Figaro, and returned to Salzburg to conduct the Orchestra in a programme of Schubert and Mozart in 2005.
He made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 2004, in which year he also made his debut at the National Theatre, Prague, conducting Janáček's Vylety pana broucka (The Excursions of Mr Broucek).
Sir Charles Mackerras - A Lifetime of Achievement and Awards
Sir Charles received a CBE in 1974, was knighted in 1979, was honoured with the Medal of Merit from the Czech Republic in 1996 and made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1997. He is a DMus (Hon) of the Universities of Hull, York, Nottingham, Brno (Czech Republic), Griffith (Australia), Oxford, Napier and the Prague Academy of Music.
Sir Charles is also President of Trinity College of Music. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, Trinity College of Music (London), St. Peter’s College (Oxford) and the Royal Northern College of Music.
Sir Charles celebrated his 75th birthday in 2000 with performances of Der Rosenkavalier and Semele with the San Francisco Opera. The year 2000 also celebrated Sir Charles’s fifty years with the Welsh National Opera. He has conducted many orchestras including the Philharmonia Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Vienna Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Philharmonia and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras in concerts built around the recent Dvořák and Janáček celebrations.
Sir Charles became a Companion of Honour in the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours. In May 2005 he was presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal and in November 2005 he was the first recipient of the Queen's Medal for Music.
"When the Philharmonia landed Sir Charles Mackerras as their principal guest, they made a better catch than most British orchestras have for their chief conductors. His vigour, clarity and sweep, underpinned by enthusiastic and profound knowledge, are legendary, and they have got better with age." The Independent, June 2004
