18 Exceptional Memory and Reconstruction of the Lost Sullivan Cello Concerto

With all the music Charles Mackerras conducted he always fastidiously researched the background, no matter how deeply familiar he may already have been with it. That and his prodigious memory gave him his exceptional knowledge, and a very remarkable instance of how he could put this to use occurred when he was involved with the rarely heard Cello Concerto by Sir Arthur Sullivan. He had conducted a performance in 1953 and then something unforeseen happened, as conductor and writer Tom Higgins now relates.

INTERVIEW 2-15: TOM HIGGINS

MUSIC 11: SULLIVAN CONCERTO