Colin Davis dies, leaves London Symphony Orchestra legacy

Colin Davis dies: The former conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis was considered a giant of Britain's classical music scene.

|
(AP Photo/`PA, Matt Crossick, File)
British conductor Sir Colin Davis, president of the London Symphony Orchestra, holds a Classical BRIT award. The London Symphony Orchestra says Monday that Colin Davis, has died aged 85. One of the best-known figures in British classical music, Davis worked with the symphony for more than half a century.

Colin Davis, the former principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and one of Britain's elder statesmen of classical music, has died at 85.

The orchestra said Davis died Sunday after a short illness.

One of the best-known figures in British music, Davis worked with the London symphony for more than half a century.

He first conducted for the LSO in 1959 and took the principal conductor post in 1995, serving until 2006 before becoming president.

The orchestra said Davis had been "at the head of the LSO family for many years."

"His musicianship and his humanity have been cherished by musicians and audiences alike," it said in a statement, adding that "music lovers across the world have been inspired by his performances and recordings."

Associated in particular with the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jean Sibelius and Hector Berlioz, Davis won three Grammy awards — two in 2002 for the LSO's recording of "Les Troyens" by Berlioz, and one for Giuseppe Verdi's "Falstaff" four years later — and a host of other trophies.

Colin Rex Davis was born in the southern England town of Weybridge on Sept. 25, 1927, one of seven children of a bank clerk.

Thanks to a generous relative, he studied at the private school Christ's Hospital, then at the Royal College of Music, before spending his compulsory military service as a clarinetist with the band of the Household Cavalry.

Because he did not play piano he was denied a place in the music college's conducting class, and initially he struggled to find conducting work. His entry in "Who's Who" listed the years 1949-57 as "freelance wilderness."

But after filling in to acclaim for Otto Klemperer at the Royal Festival Hall in 1959, his career took off.

Apart from his long association with the LSO, Davis spent periods as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony and music director of the Royal Opera House, and worked with ensembles around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1980.

Antonio Pappano, music director of the Royal Opera House, said Davis' death was a blow to the company, which had planned to work with him again. Pappano said it "represents an end of an era, where grit, toil, vision and energy were the defining elements of a leading international opera house."

"The warmth and excitement of his music-making will be terribly missed. He was a giant," Pappano said.

In his early career Davis was, by his own admission, "a raw young man," known for abrasiveness and fits of temper. He mellowed with age, becoming an enthusiastic pipe-smoker and knitter as well as musical leader.

In 2007, he told the BBC that music helped stave off thoughts of death.

"Every time you give a concert, time is suspended: You're mastering it; time is not the enemy," he said. "It doesn't put off death, unfortunately, but it gives you a very good time while you're still alive."

 Davis had two children with his first wife, April Cantelo, and five with his second, Ashraf Naini. His children survive him.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Colin Davis dies, leaves London Symphony Orchestra legacy
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0415/Colin-Davis-dies-leaves-London-Symphony-Orchestra-legacy
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe