Andrew Davis (conductor)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Andrew Frank Davis CBE (born February 2, 1944 in Ashridge , Great Britain) is a British conductor. He is musical director and chief conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago , chief conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and honorary conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra .

Career

His parents are Robert J. Davis and Florence Joyce (nee Badminton). Davis grew up in Chesham , Buckinghamshire and Watford . He attended Watford Boys' Grammar School, where he studied the classics from sixth grade. His musical work during his youth included playing the organ at the Palace Theater, Watford. Davis studied at the Royal Academy of Music and at King's College (Cambridge) , where he worked as an organ tutor. In 1965 he received the second prize at the St Albans International Organ Festival . He graduated in 1967. He later studied conducting with Franco Ferrara in Rome .

Davis' first full-time position was from 1970 as a regular conductor with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra . In 1975 he became musical director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO). He held the position until 1988 when he received the title of Honorary Conductor of the TSO.

In 1988 Davis became musical director at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera , where he met the American soprano Gianna Rolandi , who became his third wife. Davis completed his tenure at Glyndebourne in 2000. In 1989 Sir John appointed Drummond Davis as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO). During his tenure with the BBC SO, Davis re-established the tradition established by Malcolm Sargent of the BBC SO's chief conductor conducting the Last Night of The Proms . He was best known for his humorous last night speeches, including two speeches based on the babble song I am the very model of a modern major-general from The Pirates of Penzance , but he also spoke seriously about the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales , Mother Teresa and Sir Georg Solti in his 1997 Last Night speech. Davis resigned as chief conductor of the BBC SO in 2000 and now has the title of Honorary Conductor of the BBC SO.

In May 1992, Davis was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and was named a Knight Bachelor on the 1999 New Year's list of honors . In 2002 he conducted the Prom at the Palace concert, held in the gardens of Buckingham Palace as part of Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee celebrations .

Davis became musical director and chief conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2000 . His work in Chicago in 2005 included his first conducting Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen and the first Chicago production of Michael Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage . His current contract with the Lyric Opera of Chicago runs until the 2020-2021 season.

In 2005 Davis became musical advisor to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for a period of three years. In September 2006 he announced that he would give up this position in Pittsburgh after the 2007-2008 season. In October 2007, Davis and the orchestra agreed to terminate his contract early so that he would not have to conduct his planned concerts in Pittsburgh as his schedule was very busy. Outside the USA, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra appointed him their chief conductor from January 2013 with a starting contract of 4 years.

Davis has a broad repertoire, with a special focus on contemporary British music. He is particularly associated with Michael Tippett, for whom he conducted the UK premiere of his work The Mask of Time . Davis has recorded for a number of music labels including NMC Recordings, Teldec and Deutsche Grammophon . He also directed a critically received recording of Harrison Birtwistle's opera The Mask of Orpheus .

Davis and his wife live in Chicago.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Europa Publications (Ed.): International Who's Who in Classical Music 2003 . Volume 19. Taylor & Francis Group, 2003, ISBN 978-1-85743-174-2 , pp. 176 .
  2. ^ A b c John Walsh: Conductor of hope and glory. In: The Independent . Retrieved July 12, 1997, July 31, 2016 (UK English).
  3. ^ William Littler: The TSO's Englishman in Toronto. In: Toronto Star . May 8, 2015, accessed July 31, 2016 .
  4. ^ John Whitley: Does he have what it takes? In: The Daily Telegraph . June 28, 1997, accessed July 31, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Humphrey Burton: Obituary: Sir John Drummond. In: The Guardian . September 8, 2006, accessed July 31, 2016 .
  6. ^ David Cannadine: The 'Last Night of the Proms' in historical perspective . In: Historical Research . tape 81 , no. 212 , May 2008, ISSN  1468-2281 , p. 315-349 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1468-2281.2008.00466.x ( onlinelibrary.wiley.com [PDF]).
  7. ↑ Robert Cowan, Edward Seckerson: Last Saturday saw the Last Night of the Proms and the first night of the Royal Opera's exile at the Barbican ... In: The Independent . September 14, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2016 (UK English).
  8. ↑ Martin Kettle: The Ring of the Nibelung (Lyric Opera, Chicago). In: The Guardian . April 7, 2005, accessed July 26, 2016 .
  9. ↑ John von Rhein: Lyric takes a risky magical tour with Tippett's mystery opera. In: Chicago Tribune . November 13, 2005, accessed July 31, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Andrew Davis takes additional post. In: Chicago Tribune . June 17, 2012, accessed July 31, 2016 .
  11. ^ Andrew Druckerbrod: Future succession to keep PSO busy. In: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 29, 2006, accessed July 26, 2016 .
  12. ^ Andrew Druckerbrod: Davis backs out of PSO concerts. In: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 27, 2007, accessed July 26, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Sir Andrew Davis announced as Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chief Conductor. In: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. June 18, 2012, accessed July 31, 2016 .
  14. ^ David Cairns: Michael Tippett 1905-1998 . In: The Musical Times . Volume 139, No. 1861 , March 1998, p. 4–5 (English, archived Internet source [accessed September 7, 2009]). archived Internet source ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2002 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musicaltimes.co.uk
  15. ↑ Tim Ashley: CD: Chopin: Piano Concerto No 1; Liszt: Piano Concerto No 1. In: The Guardian. February 23, 2007, accessed July 26, 2016 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Davis, Andrew
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Davis, Sir Andrew Frank (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British conductor
DATE OF BIRTH February 2, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Ashridge , UK