Dr Stephen Mould on Maestro Carlo Felice Cillario and Wagner

Maestro Carlo Felice Cillario (1915–2007) was one of the leading Italian opera conductors of the second half of the twentieth century. He gave performances in the major opera houses of the world with stellar casts that included Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi, Montserrat Caballé and Luciano Pavarotti. Cillario was also the founding Music Director of the Australian Opera, leading over one thousand performances with the company over a period of thirty years. His readings of Puccini and Verdi were celebrated, but no less so was his engagement with Wagner and Mozart. 

Since publishing his book on the Maestro, Stephen Mould has continued his research into Cillario (and Italian conductors generally) and Wagner and found some live recordings of Cillario’s Wagner from Sydney and Melbourne. Stephen writes about his proposed talk; ‘I’m aware that Cillario considered himself to be part of a rich heritage of Italian Wagner conductors and I’ve explored that and come up with some interesting material. I’m also aware that there were a considerable number of people in Australia who felt that he was a questionable choice for conductor of Wagner’s later music dramas – including the Ring. I also would like to unpack some of the 'behind the scenes' politics around the 1983-4 Ring Cycle and even encourage some Q&A discussion as I know that it remains a somewhat sensitive subject among many Wagnerians.

Around 1968 Cillario was conducting all over the world. He had conducted a Tosca with Callas in 1964 and his career was thriving. He did not accept the engagement to come to Australia because of the Tosca at the Adelaide Festival. It seems that his decision was based upon the opportunity to conduct Tannhäuser. He made his Australian debut in Canberra, conducting it with a chorus of about 25 and an orchestra of about 45 players.'

Thus began a love affair between this eminent musician and Australia and its artists that endured for nearly four decades.

ABOUT STEPHEN MOULD

Stephen Mould studied music in Sydney and London, subsequently pursuing a career in opera houses, where he has been employed as a coach, musical assistant, conductor and senior administrator in Germany, Belgium, Australia and the USA. 

For thirteen years he was a member of the staff of Opera Australia, as a musical assistant, conductor and Head of Music. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Conducting, Operatic Studies and Repetiteurship at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney and Artistic Director of the Conservatorium Opera.

Stephen has had a long association with the Wagner Society in NSW: he was a special guest at an early Wagner birthday celebration; he gave recitals with Warwick Fyfe and with Lisa-Harper Brown; he spoke via zoom in 2021 about his book Curating Opera; and he was a speaker at the Symposium on Die Walküre last year, where he spoke on rehearsing and performing, on stage or in concert (Reflections on Die Walküre in advance of a concert performance).

The Talk will commence at 2pm.

Preceding the Talk will be a screening of Parsifal, Act 2 from Baden Baden in 2004.