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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Œuvres orchestrales (Volume 2)
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Jeffrey Crellin, Andrew Davis, Marshall McGuire, Alannah Guthrie-Jones
Classical - Released by Chandos on 1 Mar 2013
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
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 1 Apr 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Works for Orchestra (Live)
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, James Ehnes, Andrew Davis
Classical - Released by Chandos on 1 May 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré: Requiem Op. 48 & Duruflé: Requiem Op. 9
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 8 Sep 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wood, Coleridge-Taylor & Delius: Music for Violin & Orchestra
Tasmin Little, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Alberto Menéndez Escribano, Andrew Davis
Classical - Released by Chandos on 1 Nov 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Starlight Express
Theatre Music - Released by Chandos on 1 Nov 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tippett: Concerto for Double String Orchestra, Fantasia Concertante & Ritual Dances
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Simpson: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6 (Live)
London Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis, Charles Groves
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 2 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Percy Grainger : Œuvres pour grand chœur et orchestre
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Sydney Chamber Choir, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Classical - Released by Chandos on 1 Apr 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Antonín Dvorák: The Symphonies
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 16 Aug 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 3, "A Pastoral Symphony" & Symphony No. 7, "Sinfonia Antartica"
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 5 Sep 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Lark Ascending
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 1 Jun 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5
Symphonic Music - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Apr 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36; Pomp and Circumstance Marches Nos. 1-5, Op. 39
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 17 Aug 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Hugo von Hofmannsthal - Richard Strauss)
Classical - Released by Opus Arte on 1 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Birtwistle: The Mask of Orpheus
Opera - Released by NMC Recordings on 1 Nov 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: Orchestral Works
New Philharmonia Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Classical - Released by Lyrita on 1 Apr 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 9 & Job
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 14 Feb 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Baroque Album
Toronto Chamber Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Classical - Released by ImpDigital on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Andrew David Plays The Organ At Roy Thomson Hall
Classical - Released by Marquis Classics on 1 Jan 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies No. 2 "A London Symphony" & No. 8
Symphonic Music - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo