He was one of Australia’s favourite sons and one of our most precious contributions to the world stage of music, opera and culture. Sir Charles Mackerras has died at the age of 84. A flame-haired, freckle-faced lad he was born in America but grew up on the North Shore of Sydney – despite the many years spent working around the world he never lost his Aussie accent and at the time of his death was still married to the woman he married in 1947, Judy Wilkins.
It was Mackerras, an ebullient and hypnotic conductor, who introduced the English-speaking world of classical music to the works of the great Czech composer Leos Janacek; works such as Katya Kabanova and Jenufa are now standards in the world stage repertoire thanks to the championing efforts and enthusiastic influence of Charles Mackerras.
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