Andrew Davis
One of the leading conductors from the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Andrew Davis conducted symphonic and operatic repertory with equal distinction and received praise for his performances of the music of British composers, particularly the works of Vaughan Williams, Elgar, and especially Michael Tippett. Davis was the conductor laureate of the Toronto, BBC, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.
Davis was born on February 2, 1944, in Ashridge, Hertfordshire, England. He took to the keyboard early on, and his first serious studies came with his enrollment at the Royal College of Music in London, followed by further instruction at King's College, Cambridge, where he excelled in organ performance and scholarship. The young Davis was gradually drawn toward conducting, studying at Rome's Academy of St. Cecilia with Franco Ferrara. His first major position came in 1970 when he was appointed associate conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, a post he held for two years.
Davis' ascent toward international recognition came quickly in the years that followed: he became the principal guest conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in 1974 and the following year was appointed music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. During his 13-year tenure in Toronto, Davis led many successful tours abroad and made a series of celebrated recordings, including those of Handel's Messiah with soloists Florence Quivar, Kathleen Battle, and Samuel Ramey, and Janácek's Taras Bulba and The Cunning Little Vixen Suite. When he left the Toronto Symphony in 1988, it is generally agreed that Davis had noticeably improved the ensemble and greatly enhanced its international reputation. He became the conductor laureate of the Toronto Symphony when he stepped down.
In 1988, Davis accepted the directorship of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The following year, Davis married soprano Gianna Rolandi, to whom he was married until her death in 2021; the couple had one son, Edward, born in 1989. That year, Davis was appointed chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. With the BBC Symphony, he led successful tours abroad, including to Hong Kong, the U.S., and three excursions to Japan. Davis' recordings with the BBC Symphony included a variety of works from various periods, but among contemporary composers, he tended to favor the British, issuing recordings of compositions by Harrison Birtwistle (The Mask of Orpheus), David Sawer (Byrnan Wood), and others. In the 1990s, Davis also gave concerts and made recordings with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and several others. In addition, he conducted operatic performances at the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, and the Bavarian State Opera, where his rendition of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes was critically acclaimed.
In 1999, Davis was knighted, and in 2000, he departed his BBC Symphony Orchestra and Glyndebourne posts. He then accepted the appointment of music director and principal conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Davis' performances in Chicago included Wagner's Ring Cycle, Massenet's Thaïs (with Renée Fleming), and Michael Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage. During this time, Davis was heard on a number of recordings, including The Very Best of Thomas Hampson (2005), The Last Night of the Proms (2008), and 100 Best Tenor Arias (2009).
Davis was the chief conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra from 2013 until 2019, leading that group in a three-volume series of the orchestral works of Charles Ives. He served as conductor laureate for the BBC Symphony and Melbourne Symphony after leaving his chief conductor posts. In 2016, Davis led the Toronto Symphony on a recording of his arrangement of Handel's Messiah on Chandos. Davis recorded prolifically throughout the 2010s and into the 2020s as an exclusive artist with Chandos; among these recordings is a survey of Eugene Goossens' orchestral works with the Melbourne Symphony, the third volume of which was issued in 2020. That year, he was also heard on a performance of Massenet's Thais, leading the Toronto Symphony. His tenure with the Lyric Opera concluded in 2021, and he was succeeded by Enrique Mazzola. That year, Davis conducted the London Symphony on a recording of Robert Simpson's Symphony No. 5. Davis was diagnosed with leukemia in 2022 and died on April 20, 2024.
© TiVo Staff /TiVo
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Hugh Wood: Piano Concerto Op. 31 & Lou Harrison: Piano Concerto with Selected Orchestra
Joanna Macgregor, Andrew Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez SoundCircus le 31 juil. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: Symphony No. 3, Op. 88 (Completed by A. Payne)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Classique - Paru chez NMC Recordings le 1 oct. 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Baroque Flute
Jeanne Baxtresser, Andrew Davis, Toronto Chamber Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez ImpDigital le 1 janv. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anthony Payne: Time's Arrow
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Classique - Paru chez NMC Recordings le 30 sept. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: The Sketches for Symphony No. 3
Anthony Payne, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Diction - Paru chez NMC Recordings le 1 oct. 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorák: The Symphonies
Musique symphonique - Paru chez Sony Classical le 16 août 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
David Sawer: Byrnan Wood
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Classique - Paru chez NMC Recordings le 1 sept. 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wood: Symphony, Op. 21 & Scenes from Comus, Op. 6
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Classique - Paru chez NMC Recordings le 1 avr. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia from Peter Grimes, Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge & The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics International le 1 avr. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elias: The House That Jack Built, A Talisman & Doubles
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Classique - Paru chez NMC Recordings le 19 sept. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sackman: Hawthorn
Nicholas Sackman, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Classique - Paru chez NMC Recordings le 1 sept. 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorák: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8
Classique - Paru chez Sony Classical le 1 janv. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MacMillan, E.: A Centenary Celebration
Andrew Davis, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Amadeus Quartet, Jon Vickers, Elmer Iseler, Richard Woitach
Classique - Paru chez Centrediscs le 11 août 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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States & Stages EP (Original Mix)
Techno - Paru chez Capital Techno Recordings le 31 déc. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo