Sir Colin Rex Davis CH CBE was born on September 25, 1927, and passed away on April 14, 2013. He was an English conductor who became well known for working with the London Symphony Orchestra, which he first led in 1959. He performed a wide range of music, but he was especially connected to works by composers such as Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Stravinsky, and Tippett.
Davis originally studied to play the clarinet, but he wanted to become a conductor. From 1949 to 1957, he worked as a conductor without a permanent job, facing challenges during this time. Later, he received positions with several orchestras, including the BBC Scottish Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He also led important music organizations, such as Sadler's Wells Opera and the Royal Opera House, where he was the principal conductor for more than fifteen years. He also conducted as a guest for many other famous orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Staatskapelle Dresden.
As a teacher, Davis worked at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the Landesgymnasium für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber" in Dresden, which prepares students for music careers. He made his first recordings for gramophone in 1958. Over the next fifty years, he created many recordings, including studio recordings for Philips Records and live recordings for the London Symphony Orchestra's own label.
Early years
Davis was born in Weybridge, Surrey, as the fifth of seven children to Reginald George Davis, a bank clerk, and Lillian Constance (Colbran) Davis. His family loved music, and he heard music often from a young age. He later said:
"I still remember Sargent conducting the first concert I ever saw. I still hear Melchior singing in the final scene of Siegfried—a recording played on my father’s gramophone. I also remember the moment I decided to make music my life. I was 13 or 14 years old, and the performance was of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony. Doors suddenly opened for me. I became completely involved in music, even obsessed with it, though I was very focused on my own preferences. Today, I enjoy all kinds of music."
With help from his great-uncle, Davis attended Christ’s Hospital in Sussex and later won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London. There, he studied the clarinet with Frederick Thurston. His classmates included Gervase de Peyer, but Davis became more interested in conducting. However, he could not join the conducting class at the college because he did not know how to play the piano.
After completing required military service and finishing his studies, Davis worked as a clarinet player in the band of the Life Guards. Stationed in Windsor, he had many chances to attend concerts in London led by conductors such as Sir Thomas Beecham and Bruno Walter. In 1949, he began working as a freelance musician (a time he called the "freelance wilderness") and continued this until 1957. His first conducting job was with the Kalmar Orchestra, which he helped start with other former students from the Royal College. He later conducted the newly formed Chelsea Opera Group in Don Giovanni. In the early years of his career, he also played the clarinet in orchestras. A full-time conducting position with the Original Ballet Russe in 1952 ended after three months when the company closed. Between other conducting jobs, Davis worked as a coach and lecturer, including time at the Cambridge University Musical Society and the Bryanston Summer School. A performance of L’enfance du Christ there made him appreciate the music of Berlioz more.
BBC and Sadler's Wells
In 1957, he had his first important success when he was chosen as assistant conductor of the BBC Scottish Orchestra (now the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra). The chief conductor of the orchestra usually performed the most common pieces, leaving Davis to lead modern and less traditional works, including those by Berlioz. By 1959, Davis had grown enough that after a concert featuring music by Stravinsky and Mozart with the London Mozart Players, Peter Heyworth, the chief music critic of The Observer, wrote about his performance.
Davis gained wide recognition in 1959 when he replaced an ill conductor, Otto Klemperer, in a performance of Don Giovanni at the Royal Festival Hall. A year later, Beecham invited Davis to help prepare The Magic Flute at Glyndebourne. When Beecham became ill, Davis conducted the opera. After the Don Giovanni performance, The Times wrote, "A superb conductor of Mozart declared himself last night at the Festival Hall… Mr. Davis emerged as a conductor ripe for greatness." Neville Cardus in The Guardian was less enthusiastic but noted that Davis had some strong moments in the performance. After The Magic Flute, The Times called Davis "master of Mozart's idiom, style and significance," though Heyworth in The Observer was disappointed by Davis’s tempo, which he found too slow.
In 1960, Davis made his first appearance at the Proms with a program featuring music by Britten, Schumann, Mozart, and Berlioz. That same year, he was appointed chief conductor of Sadler's Wells Opera, and in 1961, he became the company’s musical director. He expanded the company’s repertoire of operas, conducting in London and on tour. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians noted that during this time, Davis excelled in operas such as Idomeneo, The Rake's Progress, Oedipus rex, and Fidelio. His performances of Wagner, Verdi, and Puccini were less successful. He introduced Weill’s Mahagonny and Pizzetti’s Assassinio nella cattedrale to British audiences and conducted the first performance of Bennett’s The Mines of Sulphur (1965). Working with stage director Glen Byam Shaw, Davis focused on balancing the drama and music in operas. In his early years, Davis was known for being passionate and sometimes difficult to work with during rehearsals. His departure from Sadler's Wells in 1965 was marked by conflict.
After leaving Sadler's Wells and not being chosen as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, Davis became chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) in September 1967. At first, the public compared him to Sir Malcolm Sargent, a well-known conductor who had previously led the Proms. Sargent was seen as a calm and friendly figure, while Davis, being much younger, took time to gain acceptance. Davis disliked the traditional excitement of the Last Night of the Proms and tried, without success, to make it more modern. William Glock, the BBC’s Controller of Music, supported Davis and encouraged him to include more modern music in the Proms and other events. After his time as chief conductor of the BBC SO, Davis served as chief guest conductor of the orchestra from 1971 to 1976.
Covent Garden
In 1970, Sir David Webster, who managed the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet companies at Covent Garden, invited Davis to replace Sir Georg Solti as the main conductor of the opera. Around the same time, the Boston Symphony Orchestra asked Davis to become its musical director. However, Davis believed that if Covent Garden needed him, it was his responsibility to accept the position. Webster wanted Davis and stage director Sir Peter Hall, who previously worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, to collaborate equally as musical director and production director. After early successes, including the first performance of Michael Tippett’s The Knot Garden in December 1970, Hall left to take over as director of the National Theatre from Laurence Olivier. By then, Webster had retired, leaving Davis and Webster’s successor as General Administrator, Sir John Tooley, to lead the Royal Opera.
During his early months at Covent Garden, some audience members expressed dissatisfaction, and a performance of Nabucco in 1972 was described as "disastrous," with audience members booing. At first, Davis’ conducting of Wagner’s Ring cycle was compared unfavorably to that of his predecessor. However, Davis achieved success with operas such as Berlioz’s Les Troyens (featuring Jon Vickers and Anja Silja), Benvenuto Cellini, Verdi’s Falstaff, major Mozart operas, and productions of Peter Grimes and The Rake’s Progress, where critics noted his excellence in interpreting works by Britten and Stravinsky. Over his fifteen-year tenure, Davis conducted more than 30 operas. However, he allowed foreign conductors like Maazel, Abbado, and Muti to lead new productions, giving up opportunities to conduct major operas such as Der Rosenkavalier, Rigoletto, and Aida.
In addition to traditional operas, Davis conducted modern and less familiar works, including Tippett’s The Knot Garden and The Ice Break (for which he is the dedicatee), as well as Alexander Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf and Eine florentinische Tragödie. Later, Davis preferred working with stage directors who respected the libretto, stating he wanted collaborators who did not feel jealous of composers and instead focused on the work itself. Davis hoped Götz Friedrich, with whom he worked on Wagner’s Ring cycle, would take over Hall’s role as principal producer, but no one was willing to commit.
During his time at Covent Garden, Davis returned to the BBC Symphony Orchestra as principal guest conductor from 1971 to 1975 and held the same role with the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1972 to 1984. In 1977, he became the first English conductor to perform at Bayreuth, where he conducted the festival’s opening opera, Tannhäuser. Despite initial skepticism from Bayreuth audiences, his performance was "highly successful." Davis made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1967 with Peter Grimes, at the Vienna State Opera in 1986, and at the Bavarian State Opera in 1994.
Bavarian Radio Symphony and London Symphony Orchestras
From 1983 to 1993, Davis was the main conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. During this time, he expanded his work in concert halls, performing symphonies by composers such as Bruckner and Mahler. He was invited to lead the Cleveland Orchestra after Maazel and the New York Philharmonic after Zubin Mehta, but he chose not to accept these positions. As a guest conductor, he worked with the Dresden Staatskapelle, an orchestra that gave him the honorary title of "Ehrendirigent" in 1990. This was the first time in the orchestra’s 460-year history that someone received this honor. The musicians of the Dresden Staatskapelle called Davis "Der Sir." From 1998 to 2003, he was a guest conductor for the New York Philharmonic.
In 1995, Davis became the principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), a role that marked the end of his long relationship with the orchestra. He first conducted the LSO in 1959 and led its first world tour in 1964. He became a guest conductor in 1975 and directed the LSO’s first major performances at its new home, the Barbican Centre, during a festival celebrating the music of Berlioz and Tippett in 1983. In 1997, he led the LSO’s first residency at Lincoln Center in New York City. Davis held the position of principal conductor of the LSO from 1995 to 2006, making him the longest-serving principal conductor in the orchestra’s history. After leaving this role, the LSO named him its President, a title previously held by Arthur Bliss, William Walton, Karl Böhm, and Leonard Bernstein. On June 21, 2009, exactly 50 years after his first performance with the LSO, a special concert was held at the Barbican Centre. Current and former members of the LSO performed together, playing Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor and Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Nelson Freire as the solo pianist.
During his time with the LSO, both as conductor and later as president, Davis led performances of music by composers such as Sibelius, Berlioz, Bruckner, Mozart, Elgar, Beethoven, and Brahms. In 2009, he began a series of performances featuring the symphonies of Carl Nielsen. Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians wrote:
Teacher
Davis led the Landesgymnasium für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber" in Dresden and held a special position focused on orchestral studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, who was the principal of the academy, said about Davis:
Recordings
Davis's discography includes more than 300 recordings. He made his first record in 1958, conducting the Sinfonia of London in performances of Mozart's Symphonies 29 and 39 for World Record Club (TZ 130). On 8 May 1959, he recorded for Decca in Kingsway Hall, London, with the New Symphony Orchestra of London and pianist Peter Katin playing Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor Op. 18. He recorded for L'Oiseau Lyre, a small independent label, including a 1960 version of L'enfance du Christ and a 1962 version of Béatrice et Bénédict. As of April 2013, both were still available on CD. For EMI, he recorded operas and orchestral works. Operatic recordings included excerpts from Carmen and a complete Oedipus rex with Sadler's Wells forces. Orchestral recordings included Harold in Italy with Yehudi Menuhin and a well-known 1961 recording of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.
In the 1960s, Davis became an exclusive artist for Philips Records. He recorded many works in the symphonic repertoire and several operas, including major Mozart operas, operas by Tippett, Britten, Verdi, and Puccini, and a complete survey of Berlioz's operas. His 1970 recording of Les Troyens was the first complete version and won an award. His 1966 Philips recording of Handel's Messiah was seen as a major breakthrough because it broke away from large-scale Victorian-style performances. Other Philips recordings included a 1982 set of Haydn's twelve London symphonies with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, praised for their style and rhythmic energy, and a 1995 Beethoven symphony cycle with the Dresden Staatskapelle, described by Gramophone as similar to the work of Klemperer.
Davis recorded with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Philips, including the first of his three Sibelius cycles, which remains available on CD. They also recorded works by Debussy, Grieg, Schubert, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky. For RCA Victor Red Seal, he recorded complete symphony cycles of Sibelius (with the LSO), Brahms (with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, 1989–98), and Schubert (with the Dresden Staatskapelle, 1996).
During his time as principal conductor of the LSO, the orchestra launched its own label, LSO Live. Davis's recordings on this label include Beethoven's opera Fidelio (2006), many Berlioz works such as a second recording of Les Troyens (2000), La damnation de Faust (2000), Roméo et Juliette (2000), Béatrice et Bénédict (2000), Harold en Italie (2003), and Symphonie fantastique (2000); Britten's Peter Grimes (2004); Dvořák's Symphonies Nos. 6–9 (1999–2004); five Elgar sets: the Enigma Variations (2007), Introduction and Allegro for Strings (2005), the three symphonies (2001), and The Dream of Gerontius (2005); Handel's Messiah (2006); Haydn's Die Schöpfung (2007); Holst's The Planets (2002); James MacMillan's St John Passion (2008), The World's Ransoming (2007), and The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (2007); Mozart's Requiem (2007); Nielsen's Symphonies Nos. 4–5 (2011); a third Sibelius symphony cycle (2002–2008); Smetana's Má vlast (2005); Tippett's A Child of Our Time (2007); Verdi's Falstaff (2004), Requiem (2009), and Otello (2010); and Walton's First Symphony (2005).
Awards
Davis was given the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1965, knighted in 1980, and named a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2001. He received the Royal Philharmonic Society's gold medal in 1995 and the Queen's Medal for Music in 2009. He also earned many international honors, including Commendatore of the Italian Republic in 1976, the Shakespeare Prize in Germany in 1984, the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit in Germany in 1987, the Commandeur of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 1990, the Commander of the Order of the Lion in Finland in 1992, the Order of Merit in Bavaria in 1993, the Officier of the Legion of Honour in France in 1999 (and Chevalier in 1982), and the Order of Maximilian in Bavaria in 2000.
Other honors include being named Pipe Smoker of the Year in 1996, winning Male Artist of the Year at the Classic Brit Awards in 2008, receiving a Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Opera for his LSO Live recording of Verdi's Falstaff, and earning the Elgar Medal in 2012.
Throughout his career, he received a total of 10 Grammy Awards and was nominated 34 times.
Personal life
In 1949, Davis married April Cantelo, a soprano. They had two children. Their marriage ended in 1964, and that same year, Davis married Ashraf Naini, who was also known as Shamsi. To meet the requirements of both Iranian and British officials, the couple married three times: once in Iran and twice in the United Kingdom. The ceremonies took place at the Iranian Embassy in London and during a UK civil ceremony. They had five children. One of their children is Joseph Wolfe, a conductor who chose to use a different surname to help him build his own identity as a musician.
Shamsi died in June 2010 while Davis was performing Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the Royal Opera House. Davis continued the performances shortly after her death. The following year, when asked how he found the strength to perform, he did not provide a direct answer.
After Shamsi's death, Davis's health worsened quickly. In February 2011, he fell from the podium at Covent Garden and canceled many performances in the months that followed. His final concert in France was on June 7, 2012, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris with the Orchestre National de France and pianist Emanuel Ax. His last performance with the London Symphony Orchestra was a concert of Berlioz's Grande Messe des morts on June 26, 2012, at Saint Paul's Cathedral in London. His final known performance was with the Haydn Chamber Orchestra, an amateur group in London, and soloist Thomas Gould, one month before his death. Davis passed away on April 14, 2013, in London at the age of 85.
Antonio Pappano, the music director at the Royal Opera House, described Davis's death as a "huge blow." Labour MP Harriet Harman noted that Davis had "made a historic contribution to music – in this country & worldwide." Borjan Canev, a former assistant conductor to Davis, said, "thank you for being my inspiration."