Sara Macliver
Encyclopedia
Sara Macliver is an Australian soprano
singer, born and raised in Perth
, Western Australia
.
Sara is one of Australia’s most popular and versatile artists, appearing in opera
s, concert and recital performances and on numerous recordings. She is regarded as one of the leading exponents of Baroque
repertoire in Australia.
She trained in Perth, where she was a pupil of Molly McGurk and was a Young Artist with the West Australian Opera
Company. Her roles for the company have included Micaela (Carmen
), Papagena (The Magic Flute
), Giannetta (L'elisir d'amore
), Morgana (Alcina
), Ida (Die Fledermaus
), Nannetta (Falstaff
) and Vespetta (Pimpinone). In 2007, she created the roles of Echo
/Aphrodite
in Richard Mills
' opera The Love of the Nightingale
. She will sing the role of Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro
) with the company in 2009.
Sara Macliver regularly performs with Symphony Australia
Orchestras, Musica Viva
, Melbourne Chorale, the Australian Chamber Orchestra
, the Australia Bach Ensemble and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. She has a particular association with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
, with whom she recorded her first CD If Love’s a Sweet Passion, which was a finalist for the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA
) Award for Best Classical Release in 2000.
She has performed in Japan, Italy, New Zealand and Hong Kong.
She has performed with Pinchgut Opera
in The Fairy-Queen
, toured with Musica Viva, Australia Bach Ensemble and worked with Richard Egarr
on Joseph Haydn
's The Creation in Perth. Recent projects include a program based on the life of Jane Austen
, with pianist Bernadette Balkus and Musica Viva. She also appeared in Pinchgut Opera’s productions of Monteverdi
’s L'Orfeo and Purcell
’s The Fairy-Queen to great critical acclaim.
Sara Macliver has made a number of recordings for ABC Classics
including Gabriel Fauré
's Requiem
and The Birth of Venus, Carl Orff
’s Carmina Burana
, the title track for a trilogy of Christmas albums and a CD of Haydn arias with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Ola Rudner. In 2002, she completed a recording of Handel
’s Messiah
for a joint ABC Classics and ABC Television
production. This has been released on CD and DVD, and screened several times on national television. ABC Classics have released a disc of Bach
arias and duets with Sara and mezzo soprano Sally-Anne Russell and the Orchestra of the Antipodes conducted by Antony Walker. This has quickly become a best seller and was nominated for an ARIA
award. This was followed by a disc of the Pergolesi
Stabat Mater
(ABC Classics) and other baroque duets, which won the inaugural ABC Classic FM listener’s choice award in 2005.
She recently received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Western Australia
.
Although resident for some years in Sydney
, she has now returned to Perth.
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
singer, born and raised in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
.
Sara is one of Australia’s most popular and versatile artists, appearing in opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s, concert and recital performances and on numerous recordings. She is regarded as one of the leading exponents of Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
repertoire in Australia.
She trained in Perth, where she was a pupil of Molly McGurk and was a Young Artist with the West Australian Opera
West Australian Opera
West Australian Opera is the principal opera company of Western Australia and is based at His Majesty's Theatre in Perth.The company formed in 1967 and works in close association with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. As of 2008, the Chairman is Erich Fraunschiel and Artistic Director is...
Company. Her roles for the company have included Micaela (Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
), Papagena (The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
), Giannetta (L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
), Morgana (Alcina
Alcina
Alcina is an opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of L'isola di Alcina, an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after, during his travels in Italy...
), Ida (Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
), Nannetta (Falstaff
Falstaff (opera)
Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...
) and Vespetta (Pimpinone). In 2007, she created the roles of Echo
Echo (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Ekho , "echo", itself from ἦχος , "sound") was an Oread who loved her own voice. Zeus loved consorting with beautiful nymphs and visited them on Earth often. Eventually, Zeus's wife, Hera, became suspicious, and came from Mt...
/Aphrodite
Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....
in Richard Mills
Richard Mills
Richard John Mills AM, DMus BA Qld, is an Australian conductor and composer. He currently works as Artistic Director of the West Australian Opera and Artistic Consultant with Orchestra Victoria...
' opera The Love of the Nightingale
The Love of the Nightingale (opera)
The Love of the Nightingale is an opera in two acts by Richard Mills. The libretto by Timberlake Wertenbaker is based on her play of the same name...
. She will sing the role of Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
) with the company in 2009.
Sara Macliver regularly performs with Symphony Australia
Symphony Australia
- Symphony Services International :Formerly Symphony Services Australia Limited , Symphony Services International has been orchestrating excellence for many years....
Orchestras, Musica Viva
Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia is the oldest independent performing arts organisation in Australia and the world's largest entrepreneur of chamber music. It was formed in 1945 in Sydney by violist Richard Goldner...
, Melbourne Chorale, the Australian Chamber Orchestra
Australian Chamber Orchestra
The Australian Chamber Orchestra was founded by cellist John Painter in 1975. Richard Tognetti was appointed Lead Violin in 1989 and subsequently appointed Artistic Director....
, the Australia Bach Ensemble and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. She has a particular association with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is an Australian period instrument orchestra specialising in the performance of baroque and classical music.The musicians play from original edition scores on restored or reproduced instruments of the 18th century...
, with whom she recorded her first CD If Love’s a Sweet Passion, which was a finalist for the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
) Award for Best Classical Release in 2000.
She has performed in Japan, Italy, New Zealand and Hong Kong.
She has performed with Pinchgut Opera
Pinchgut Opera
Pinchgut Opera is a chamber opera company in Sydney, Australia, presenting opera from the 17th and 18th centuries performed on period instruments. Founded in 2002, the company's goal is to present operas not widely known and worthy of a wider audience...
in The Fairy-Queen
The Fairy-Queen
The Fairy-Queen is a masque or semi-opera by Henry Purcell; a "Restoration spectacular". The libretto is an anonymous adaptation of William Shakespeare's wedding comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. First performed in 1692, The Fairy-Queen was composed three years before Purcell's death at the age...
, toured with Musica Viva, Australia Bach Ensemble and worked with Richard Egarr
Richard Egarr
Richard Egarr is a British keyboard performer and conductor. He received his musical training as a choirboy at York Minster, at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, and as organ scholar at Clare College, Cambridge...
on Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
's The Creation in Perth. Recent projects include a program based on the life of Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
, with pianist Bernadette Balkus and Musica Viva. She also appeared in Pinchgut Opera’s productions of Monteverdi
Claudio Monteverdi
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...
’s L'Orfeo and Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
’s The Fairy-Queen to great critical acclaim.
Sara Macliver has made a number of recordings for ABC Classics
ABC Classics
ABC Classics is the classical music record label within the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It is internationally recognised as Australia's premier classical music label, with a catalogue of more than 500 titles...
including Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
's Requiem
Requiem (Fauré)
Gabriel Fauré composed his Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 between 1887 and 1890. This choral–orchestral setting of the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead is the best known of his large works. The most famous movement is the soprano aria Pie Jesu...
and The Birth of Venus, Carl Orff
Carl Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
’s Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana (Orff)
Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana...
, the title track for a trilogy of Christmas albums and a CD of Haydn arias with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is the smallest of the six orchestras established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation .-Activities:...
conducted by Ola Rudner. In 2002, she completed a recording of Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
’s Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
for a joint ABC Classics and ABC Television
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
production. This has been released on CD and DVD, and screened several times on national television. ABC Classics have released a disc of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
arias and duets with Sara and mezzo soprano Sally-Anne Russell and the Orchestra of the Antipodes conducted by Antony Walker. This has quickly become a best seller and was nominated for an ARIA
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
award. This was followed by a disc of the Pergolesi
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi was an Italian composer, violinist and organist.-Biography:Born at Iesi, Pergolesi studied music there under a local musician, Francesco Santini, before going to Naples in 1725, where he studied under Gaetano Greco and Francesco Feo among others...
Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III...
(ABC Classics) and other baroque duets, which won the inaugural ABC Classic FM listener’s choice award in 2005.
She recently received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
.
Although resident for some years in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, she has now returned to Perth.