- Richard Bonynge
Richard Bonynge, CBE (last name pronounced "bonning"), (born 29 September 1930) is an Australian
conductor and pianist.He was born in Sydney and educated at
Sydney Boys High School before studyingpiano at theRoyal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for singers. One of these wasJoan Sutherland , whom he had accompanied in Australia. They soon married and became a duo, first (until 1962) doingrecital s. When the current conductor for a recital of operatic arias became ill, Bonynge stepped in and, from that time on, he conducted virtually all of his wife's performances. His debut as staged opera conductor took place in 1963 inVancouver, BC , where he conducted "Faust". The same year, also in Vancouver, he conducted for the first time "Norma ", starring Joan Sutherland andMarilyn Horne [ [http://www.vancouveropera.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=99 Vancouver Opera - History: mainstage productions] ] . He also conducted theEnglish Chamber Orchestra in many recordings [ [http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?a=b&name_id=61767&name_role=4&gclid=COb9zYKY-Y8CFQltZQod6wYdLQ Arkiv Music.com recording listings] ] .By doing some research since early 1950s and reading on Massenet and Italian bel canto composers, Richard Bonynge found Massenet's statement about his "
Esclarmonde ", that Massenet branded it as being his "best achievement." That made Mr. Bonynge curious enough, more so that by that time "Esclarmonde" had sunken almost in total oblivion and was hardly performed at all since end of 19th century. He obtained some shuttered vocal score of it in Paris, and subsequently bought full orchestral score from some occasional auction in New York City. Although his wife, initially, was skeptical about it, Richard Bonynge became big enthusiast and eventually convinced her that she should perform as Esclarmonde herself. And thus theSan Francisco Opera and theMetropolitan Opera premieres of it took place in 1974 and 1976 respectively. [ [http://christophercpurdy.blogspot.com/2006/11/interview-with-dame-joan-sutherland_02.html Christopher Purdy's Interview with Dame Sutherland, 2006] ]Bonynge was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to music in 1977.
In 1977 he was the founding Music Director of
Vancouver Opera Orchestra (at its creation) [Till that moment Vancouver Opera company usedVancouver Symphony Orchestra musicians to play in the pit] , when he conducted "Le roi de Lahore " staged there (in which also his wife took part). [ [http://www.vancouveropera.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=99 Vancouver Opera - History: VOO and Chorus] ]He made his Metropolitan Opera debut on 12 December, 1966, and his last performance there was on 6 April, 1991. Most of those performances he conducted there between 1966 and 1987 were with his wife singing. In the beginning his speciality (until early 1970s) was music of 18th and early 19th century, mostly in
bel canto repertoire (Rossini ,Bellini andDonizetti ), then gradually added also middleVerdi ("La Traviata ", "Rigoletto ", "Il Trovatore "),Offenbach 's ("Les Contes d'Hoffmann "), then also Massenet's ("Esclarmonde" and "Werther " [ [http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm The MetOpera Database] ] .Since 2007, he conducted a series of performances in a few opera houses around the U.S. (Miami, Detroit), and now mostly is involved with the
Opera Australia company (performances of "Lucia di Lammermoor " in August 2008, planned performances of "I Capuleti e i Montecchi " inMelbourne and Sydney in middle of 2009) [ [http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/About/presenters/Opera_Australia.aspx Opera Australia Web page] ] [ [http://operabase.com/index.cgi?lang=en Operabase] ] .References
External links
* [http://www.melbarecordings.com.au/content/view/19/46/ Richard Bonynge: Biography on Melba Records website]
* [http://www.ffaire.com/sutherland/rb2.html Richard Bonynge: Maestro of bel canto]
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an24863899 Dame Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge performing at Opera in the park]
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an24751443 Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti on with Richard Bonynge in concert at the Sydney Opera House, 1983]
* [http://www.bruceduffie.com/sutherland-bonynge.html Interview with Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge] , by Bruce Duffie
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