Music world mourns loss of leading conductor Sir Charles Mackerras

TRIBUTES poured in yesterday after the death of Sir Charles Mackerras, the world-renowned conductor and a beloved figure on the Scottish classical music scene.

Sir Charles appeared in more performances in the Edinburgh International Festival than any other artist, and had been determined to conduct Idomeneo, his favourite Mozart opera, in his 88th Edinburgh date next month.

Now the concert will become a heart-felt tribute, Festival director Jonathan Mills said yesterday. "He will be with us in spirit, and his spirit is indelibly linked to the Festival," he said.

Sir Charles, who died of cancer aged 84, first appeared in the festival in 1952, and was its honorary president. He also worked with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) for 20 years on concerts and recordings, becoming its conductor laureate.

"Sir Charles was one of the most distinguished conductors of his generation and it has been an enormous privilege for all of us at the SCO to have had such a special relationship with him," said SCO managing director Roy McEwan.

"He had an almost unparalleled mastery of music across a huge range of styles and periods," Mr McEwan said, "from Handel to Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Dvork and beyond. He was particularly famous for his interpretations of the Czech composer Jancek."

Sir Charles Mackerras grew up and studied music in Australia, but settled in the UK. In Britain, he worked at Sadler's Wells in London, and was principal conductor of the Welsh National Opera. In his career he held conducting posts in Germany, Australia, the Czech Republic, the United States, Austria and France, and in 1973, led the opening performance at the Sydney Opera House. He was the first non-Briton to conduct the Last Night of the Proms.

Roger Wright, director of the BBC Proms and Radio 3 controller, said the loss "will be deeply felt by musicians and audiences alike". Sir Charles's first Edinburgh performance was in 1952, when he conducted Pineapple Poll, a comic ballet score he arranged from the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan.

In 1958, he ran a season of 12 ballet premieres, and went on to perform a total of 87 times with favourite festival soloists such as Felicity Lott, Ian Bostridge, Lisa Milne and Simon Keenlyside.

Mr Mills described how he met him as a music student in Sydney and asked to sit in rehearsals. "His great gift with orchestras, aside the fact that his range of his repertoire was immense and really extraordinary, was to move very quickly beyond questions of technique and go directly to the core of interpretation and style," he said.

"We in this office see many artists in their more intimate, unguarded moments, and Sir Charles was always unfailingly generous, sweet and courteous."

Sir Charles had picked the cast for the concert performance of Idomeneo on 20 August with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

In May, Mr Mills met him conducting a London concert, where he had vowed to come to Edinburgh "by hook or by crook" despite being very frail.