Sir Colin Davis dies...

[dafrieze]

This Bostonian didn't realize that mourning the death of Sir Colin Davis wasn't going to be the lowlight of the week.  Still, I have many fond memories of his tenure as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra back in the 1970's.  There was plenty of Berlioz, of course, much of it already familiar to an orchestra whose music director had been Charles Munch, to my mind the other great Berlioz conductor of the 20th century.  But there was also a good deal of Tippett, including the world premiere of The Mask of Time and the American premiere of the Third Symphony.  In those days, I used to go backstage regularly after the concerts to speak to the performers.  In this case, in addition to getting Tippett's autograph (I remember he was extremely shortsighted and held his eyes a couple of inches over the program), I managed to make a fool of myself by asking Heather Harper not "Was that very difficult to learn?" (as I had intended to) but "Did you really enjoy singing that?"  She gave me a look of appalled amusement and said, "Do you think I would I have sung it if I didn't?"  Sir Colin also led two extraordinarily exciting and inspiring performances of a couple of English symphonies that I, in my twenties, had never heard:  Walton's First and Vaughan Williams's Fourth.  Davis himself was invariably a pleasure to talk to in the green room; he was often to be found perched, feet dangling, on top of the piano and sipping from a large glass of Scotch whisky, and his responses were invariably insightful and pungently funny.  I never had a chance to sing under his baton, but I have many good friends who did, and they adored him.  A few years after his tenure as Principal Guest Conductor, he returned to conduct a stunning performance of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius.  The last time I saw him conduct was two years ago.  I was vacationing in London and heard him lead the LSO in a Beethoven piano concerto with Mitsuko Uchida and a splendid performance of Carl Nielsen's Sixth Symphony, which I had never heard live.  The tone of some of his obituaries (not to mention some of the entries on this site) I find a little bemusing.  He caught me young, I guess; but to me he'll always be one of the great conductors.

[mbhaub]

Thank you Colin Davis for wakening my ears to Sibelius; the Boston cycle is still one of my favorites. Thanks for being one of the few (only?) major conductors to take on the Elgar-ish 3rd. You gave us a solid, beautiful Brahms cycle - vastly underrated IMO. And bless you for being one of the few major conductors who made it to the top despite not being a pianist!

[edurban]

I wrote a reply this morning and then accidentally erased it...most frustrating...so let me try again.

"...He almost wrecked the Covent Garden orchestra and his time at the BBC was not successful either..."

Unfortunately, not all fine interpretive musicians are also fine orchestra builders, or administrators, or diplomats.  Leonard Bernstein, a much-loved man of considerable and wide-ranging musical gifts, left the NY Phil in truly ramshackle condition when he left.  It took years and the hard work of a conductor seldom mentioned among the titans, Zubin Mehta, to replace the clinkers and whip the ensemble back into shape.  But who considers this now when judging Bernstein's legacy?

On the opposite side you find Fritz Reiner, a poisonous man hated by many of his Chicago players...but what an orchestra he left!  Do we still care how horrible he was in rehearsal? 

Years from now, when we are gone and all the orchestra players of the day and their griefs are forgotten, only the recorded legacy will remain.  For me, Sir Colin's recordings are formidable.  Especially fine, and seldom mentioned on anyone's shortlist, are his Haydn London symphonies.  What a set!  The Concertgebouw plays marvelously and the music has never sounded more perfectly balanced between invention, humor and drama.  Rhythms sprung, beautifully judged tempos, the perfect weight...not Beethovenian, not flighty.  Terrific.

Oh, and all that Berlioz, too...

David

[semloh]

OK, Nabucco got booed, but that's nothing new!  Every genius has the odd failure and conductors are no different, and Sir Colin is in exalted company in this repect, inc. Solti, his predecessor at ROH. For Sir Colin, as for Solti, these occasions fade into insignificance alongside his monumental successes.

It is clear that many, if not most, of his recordings represent the highest standards of musicianship. Praise was heaped on them and him from around the world during his lifetime, and now by media of every stripe. Trying to choose his 'outstanding' recordings is generally agreed to be impossible since the standard was so uniformly high - Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Sibelius, Brahms, Tippett - you name it, and with a variety

of orchestras from around the world. Live performances are described by critics

as "revelatory", "lustrous", "awesome", "stunning", "unforgettable", and so on. To get just a hint of his stature, look at the various pieces in The Guardian newspaper:

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/colin-davis

And, don't miss the interview from May 2001! 

As to the ROHCG, the following excerpts from their website suggest that his time with them was inspiring. Sir John Tooley, General Administrator (later General Director) from 1970 to 1988
says:
'Colin's early days at Music Director at the Royal Opera House were not easy for him, as they had not been for his predecessor, Sir Georg Solti. There were some doubts that he could deliver and that he could begin to match some of the world's greatest conductors. In all of this, the doubters were wrong and proved to be wrong by Colin as he widened his repertory and excelled in much of what he undertook. One of his biggest challenges was the new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen from 1973 to 1976, in which he collaborated with director Götz Friedrich. Not an easy relationship, but one that nevertheless flourished and resulted in some remarkable performances.'

Thomas Allen says:
'He was Music Director of The Royal Opera at the most crucial stage of the Company's history and development, one that happened to coincide with my own arrival in WC2. Led by him, I will always remember the strength of the Company in visits to La Scala, Milan, South Korea and Tokyo and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, key moments in creating and establishing the international standards for which the company is renowned. Colin Davis led The Royal Opera through all of that vital period.'

Opera director David McVicar worked with Sir Colin when Sir Colin conducted his Royal Opera productions of Die Zauberflöte (2003 and 2011) and Le Nozze di Figaro (2006 and 2011) and his new production of La Clemenza di Tito (for Aix-en-Provence, 2012):

'When I first started listening to opera and especially listening to Mozart, it was Sir Colin's recordings I first listened to. So when it came to working with Sir Colin on Die Zauberflöte, Le Nozze di Figaro and La Clemenza di Tito, it seemed the most natural thing in the world to me. He was completely inspiring to work with, gentle and wise and he didn't give a damn about following fashion in Mozart. He followed his own heart and belief. His way with Mozart was the way I learned Mozart – and the most natural way to work on these operas. Everyone who worked on these productions benefitted from all his wisdom and experience: it was magical and very special.'

[giles.enders]

I have been to about 15 operas/concerts over the years, conducted by him and I have only heard run of the mill performances under him.  While he was at Covent Garden it was he who got me out of the habit of seeing most of their productions, something I have never returned to doing.  At the BBC I only saw him conducting at the proms. and can't say he inspired the audience much, an audience which is usually very receptive to anything.  I have also seen him at the Barbican where again he could have been any jobbing conductor.

[Alan Howe]

...which just shows how different the experiences of different people can be.

[giles.enders]

Alan, you haven't said what good performances you have seen him in.?

[Alan Howe]

Alan, you haven't said what good performances you have seen him in.?

Please see my initial post. I have never experienced anything that has surpassed that performance.