I HAD GROWN UP LISTENING TO RICHARD BONYNGE'S SUPERB
RECORDINGS, and was over the moon when I had the
chance to record his Australian Opera Performance of
Tales of Hoffman as an ABC producer in 1983.
We didn’t know at the time that it was going to be
cancelled on the night due to industrial action....I was
walking down the stairs backstage - when lo and behold,
coming the other way was the conductor with the matinee
Idol looks - I gasped and did a double take. He probably
thought I was a singer on the make. Later on, when I was
taken to his dressing room, Richard gallantly brushed
aside the introduction with “Oh Maria and I have already
met” I melted, and have been smitten ever since.
After that experience it became an idee fixe to work
with Richard again. I had to wait 16 years but finally
an opportunity presented itself.
In 1999 I left the nurturing bosom of Auntie and set up
Melba Recordings in order to produce the documentary on
Massenet – a composer Richard specially loves– he
narrates the film, and we also made a CD of Massenet’s
music with Ros Illing. Six records in The Richard
Bonynge Edition followed, and as you can imagine I am
exceedingly proud of them.
You will all take home a copy of our film on Jules
Massenet when you leave this evening.
It is a joy working with Richard because of his passion
for making records. Richard has always championed
singers and helped them get recordings. He knows how
important it is for musicians to be recorded. He knows
it is vital for their careers, to assist them promote
themselves. Artists like Joshua Bloom Benjamin Martin
and Rosamund Illing deserve the opportunity of making
great recordings – Joan Sutherland and Nellie Melba are
immortal because of their recordings. But opportunities
for artists are very limited because making recordings
is an expensive business which needs to be subsidised.
The funds we raise from events like tonight, and other
events we hope you will support will go towards
recordings we want to make with Joshua Ros and Ben –
need I say more? These recordings MUST be made! These
artists deserve the opportunity of appearing on great
recordings!
I invited Richard’s friend and collaborator Moffatt
Oxenbould to speak tonight but sadly he was unable to
come – he sent me some fond reminiscences .
When Richard Bonynge returned to Australia in 1965 as
Artistic Director of the Sutherland-Williamson Grand
Opera Company, his advance reputation had come
principally from magazine articles portraying him as a
Byronic Svengali figure who had moulded his wife into
the acclaimed prima donna. The stories were generally
positive but contained implications of – how can I put
this - a volatile temperament.
So when he arrived in Melbourne to commence rehearsals
for this much-anticipated season, those lucky enough to
be members of the company were excited, but a little
wary to have him as the artistic leader of the ambitious
undertaking.
The reality was completely different. Richard Bonynge
was certainly magnetic and glamorous, but there was no
assumption of arrogance or superiority in the rehearsal
room. He was just excited and enthusiastic. He found
time to talk with most of the “local” members of the
company, gradually building a true ensemble from a
disparate group of colleagues –all inspired and
encouraged by the stupendous artistry of Joan Sutherland
– the star who was to shine over the shared journey.
All were caught up in a bubble they knew would
ultimately burst. But while it remained intact, they
were surrounded by incredible singing, and a shared
sense of purpose that stemmed from genuine passion for
the art of opera and the pursuit of quality. Australia
was the beneficiary of these endeavours. Young singers
hitherto nervous of aspiring to an uncertain operatic
career were inspired to take a chance.
Nine years later Richard Bonynge returned to Australia –
to conduct Contes d’Hoffmann in the Sydney Opera House.
Richard had just concluded a wildly successful run of
performances of Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera in
New York. His extraordinary knowledge of the piece
itself, its history and the social and artistic context,
was remarkable and revelatory. Richard was able to
display, with unpretentious humility but authority, what
is perhaps his greatest quality – an absolute love of
singers and singing and an unassailable belief that the
theatre is a place of magic where the ordinary can
become sublime – simply being able to make music and
theatre in the company of like-minded companions is a
privilege that he has never underestimated or
undervalued. Whether it’s the premiere of a new
production or the fifteenth performance in a long run,
his genuine enthusiasm is undimmed and his visits to
dressing rooms prior to performances have the same
anticipation of the shared excitement of doing something
wonderful together.
For Opera Australia he has conducted more than fifty
operas – For Melba Recordings he has recorded six discs
with notable Australian performers Rosamund Illing,
Cheryl Barker, Elizabeth Whitehouse and his beloved
Deborah Riedel. His significant international recording
career includes more than 50 complete operas as well as
the three great Tchaikovsky ballets, three Delibes
ballets and countless relatively unknown ballets.
Richard has always been an extraordinary “encourager” of
talent and is happiest when passing on his expertise,
experience and immense specialist knowledge to young and
not so young artists.
The occasion of Richard Bonynge’s 80th Birthday in
September gives us all an opportunity to celebrate his
immense personal and professional achievement and the
significant contribution he has made to our own
appreciation and understanding of the arts and artistry
that have been – and remain - his inspiration.