Overview

By the time of his death in 2010 at the age of 84, Sir Charles Mackerras had achieved widespread recognition, recorded extensively and developed into a conductor of major international significance. In addition to areas in which he already had forged a distinctive profile (Janacek, Mozart, Handel, Sullivan) he revisited - and rethought - much of the standard repertoire. The last thirty years were particularly momentous in the coming to fruition of so manycherished projects: not only the Janacek operas but the Gilbert and Sullivan series, the Mozart operas, the two Beethoven cycles, other projects with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Schumann and Brahms at Edinburgh; the outstanding late Mozart) and at the Royal Opera House and the Met. Unspoilt by fame, and undeterred by personal tragedies and increasing physical frailty, he remained productive and inventive: for him music-making, whether with world-classsingers and orchestras or with students, was a kind of joyous oxygen that kept him going right to the end. A detailed account of his life is complemented by contributions from performers and scholars who worked closely with Mackerras, as well as interviews with his family. The book is richly illustrated with photographs and documents, and includes a comprehensive discography along with listings of many of his concert and opera performances. While SirCharles's whole life is considered, emphasis is given to his final quarter century, a period in which so many important projects were realized. This book celebrates and epitomizes an exceptional life. NIGEL SIMEONE is awriter and teacher. He has published extensively on Messiaen and Janacek and recently edited The Leonard Bernstein Letters. JOHN TYRRELL is Honorary Professor of Music at Cardiff University. He has published bookson Janacek and Czech opera and, with Sir Charles Mackerras, edited two Janacek operas. CONTRIBUTORS: Janet Baker, Alfred Brendel, Ales Brezina, Alex Briger, Rosenna East, Anne Evans, Nicholas Hytner, Simon Keenlyside, David Lloyd-Jones, David Mackie, Chi-chi Nwanoku, Antonio Pappano, Nigel Simeone, John Stein, Heinz Stolba, Patrick Summers, John Tyrrell, Malcolm Walker, David Whelton, Jiri Zahradka. ""

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9781843839668

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Reviews

The Mackerras biography is a book that you will love, if you knew Charlie, either as musician or happy audience member. It will feel like meeting an old friend again. It's a book that aspiring musicians should read ... they will be inspired, directed, humbled and challenged by it. THE HERALD

Admirably succeeds in offering...a broad overview of the life and career of the conductor Charles Mackerras...whets one's appetite to go back to the recordings. MUSICAL TIMES Nigel Simeone and John Tyrrell have produced an outstanding volume and to whom the many admirers of Charles Mackerras and music lovers in general will be indebted. BRIO Charles Mackerras is a treasure of a book, good for dipping into. BIRMINGHAM POST(A) very welcome and comprehensive book. AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW5 Stars BBC MUSIC Simeone and Tyrrell have achieved a remarkable synthesis of perspectives on Mackerras that is a model of its kind. . . . Offer(s) a picture of not only one of the most influential conductors of modern times, but also of a musical culture - of what music, as a performed art, really entails. . . . This book will be invaluable for students of performance history, for aspiring conductors, and for anyone who is intrigued by the art and craft of conducting. . . . Beautifully produced and edited, with over forty illustrations. NABSMA Reviews (An) excellent documentation of Sir Charles' long career. THE DELIANThe Mackerras biography is a book that you will love, if you knew Charlie, either as musician or happy audience member. It will feel like meeting an old friend again. It's a book that aspiring musicians should read ... they will be inspired, directed, humbled and challenged by it. THE HERALD

Admirably succeeds in offering...a broad overview of the life and career of the conductor Charles Mackerras...whets one's appetite to go back to the recordings. MUSICAL TIMES Nigel Simeone and John Tyrrell have produced an outstanding volume and to whom the many admirers of Charles Mackerras and music lovers in general will be indebted. BRIO Charles Mackerras is a treasure of a book, good for dipping into. BIRMINGHAM POST[A] very welcome and comprehensive book. AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW5 Stars BBC MUSIC Simeone and Tyrrell have achieved a remarkable synthesis of perspectives on Mackerras that is a model of its kind. . . . Offer[s] a picture of not only one of the most influential conductors of modern times, but also of a musical culture - of what music, as a performed art, really entails. . . . This book will be invaluable for students of performance history, for aspiring conductors, and for anyone who is intrigued by the art and craft of conducting. . . . Beautifully produced and edited, with over forty illustrations. NABSMA Reviews [An] excellent documentation of Sir Charles' long career. THE DELIANThe Mackerras biography is a book that you will love, if you knew Charlie, either as musician or happy audience member. It will feel like meeting an old friend again. It's a book that aspiring musicians should read ... they will be inspired, directed, humbled and challenged by it. THE HERALD

Author Information

NIGEL SIMEONE is a scholar, writer and broadcaster specializing in twentieth-century music. He was editor of The Leonard Bernstein Letters (Yale, 2013) and for the Boydell Press has published Charles Mackerras with John Tyrrell (2015), The Janáček Compendium (2019) and most recently Ralph Vaughan Williams and Adrian Boult (2022) and Edward Elgar and Adrian Boult (2025). JIŘÍ ZAHRÁDKA is Director of the Janáček Archive in Brno and a musicologist. He is the editor of critical editions of many works by Janáček including the Sinfonietta, Taras Bulba, Káťa Kabanová, The Cunning Little Vixen and The Makropulos Affair, and author of books on Janáček including acclaimed full-length studies of the operas. NIGEL SIMEONE is a scholar, writer and broadcaster specializing in twentieth-century music. He was editor of The Leonard Bernstein Letters (Yale, 2013) and for the Boydell Press has published Charles Mackerras with John Tyrrell (2015), The Janáček Compendium (2019) and most recently Ralph Vaughan Williams and Adrian Boult (2022) and Edward Elgar and Adrian Boult (2025).

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