Sir Colin Davis (1927-2013)

[bluestateprommer]

David Nice has this tribute to Sir Colin from The Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/apr/14/sir-colin-davis-obituary

I was fortunate enough to hear Sir Colin conduct live 3 times, twice in NYC with the LSO, in 2001 (Janacek, Martinu, Dvorak) and in 2005 (VW 6 and Walton 1), and finally in Amsterdam in 2008 with the GMJO and Nikolaj Znaider, the Sibelius concerto and the Symphonie Fantastique, both very, very fine concerts indeed. I had a clutch of CD booklets of his recordings at the stage door in NYC, but I had to settle for just his autograph on the program. From this side of the Atlantic, condolences to his family.

[Mahler's3rd]

RIP Sir Colin

[visualnickmos]

Sir Colin Davis

This morning I awoke to France Musique announcing the sad news that Sir Colin Davis has passed away. I have always treasured my recordings of his work, and unfortunately I never had the opportunity to see him conduct.

He was a truly outstanding "man of music"

[BBMmk2]

I couldnt believe it when i saw this over at R3OK. He brought, I would say, singlehandely, the music of Berlioz. His interpretatio0ns of Sibelius and Mozart too were always to behold RIP

[Richard Tarleton]

Very sad news. Like everyone else, he has been part of my musical landscape all my listening life.

[DracoM]

My earliest memory of the then Colin Davies was a series of fantastic Stravinsky performances at the Proms in the 60's.

[Alain Maréchal]

A tremendous loss. I hadn't attended his concerts for many years (distance being the cause) and my memories are mostly of the BBC or ROH days. Only now do I realise that he was (to use the overworn expression) a towering presence: always there, in the concert schedules, on the radio, on records, and I took him for granted. I look around my room now and see so many of his recordings. My strongest memories of live performances are the ROH Ring cycle, and a vivid, almost unbearably tense Sibelius 7 with the BBCSO.

Well done, thou good and faithful servant of music.

[aeolium]

Sad news - a great conductor of Berlioz,Beethoven,Haydn,Mozart ,Sibelius and Dvorak especially .

Yes, and Handel and Britten and Tippett. I last saw him conducting - very eloquently - the Nielsen first symphony at the Barbican. He has been a part of my musical life for 45 years. Very generous and principled - I remember going to a concert which he conducted on behalf of the Musicians Union and in support of their protest against the attempted disbandment of BBC orchestras in 1980.

A tremendous loss. RIP.

[Northender]

Well I can only echo the sentiments expressed so far on this thread. A very sad loss indeed.
RIP.

Ditto (although he didn't 'get me into' Wagner - but that's arguably my loss).

[rauschwerk]

It seems such a long time ago, but when Sir Colin was trying to make his mark there was still prejudice in this country against British born artists. Many supposed that someone called Colin Davis from Weybridge simply couldn't be much good. The LSO chose Kertesz over him, which may have had something to do with his volatility, and he decided that if he didn't get a permanent orchestral post by the time he was 40, he would give up conducting and do something else. Fortunately for the world of music, the BBC hired him just in time.

In 1966 I sang in the chorus for one of his many concert performances of Les Troyens, and it was one of the great musical experiences of my life. I had just got to know his exciting and controversial Messiah recording and had heard him conduct a memorable Rite of Spring at the Proms in 1963 or 1964.

Who recalls the hullabaloo when he tried to remove Land of Hope and Glory from the last night of the Proms? It was all over the papers and I wrote him a supportive letter to which he generously replied, referring to my note as "one among so many abusive ones".

I am sorry that I had so few opportunities to hear his work in recent years but thank heavens he made so many fine recordings.

R.I.P.

[Mr Pee]

Melanie Hall in the Telegraph:-

Tributes poured in from the classical world for the Surrey-born composer on the LSO website, which set up a memorial page for people to leave messages about Sir Colin.

[Pabmusic]

Really sad news. I have today listened to Sibelius's 3rd Symphony (Boston recording), Berlioz Harold in Italy (Menuhin, Philharmonia), and Elgar 1 (Dresden). A sad loss.

[Nick Armstrong]

The Bavarian "Enigma Variations" that RC just played sounded terrific

[Alison]

The LSO Enigma was my in car music this morning. Proms seasons won't be the same without the Sir Colin contribution.

Wonder if he was booked for this season ? Almost certainly.

As others have said a wonderful discography to keep us enthral led for many years to come.

[Nick Armstrong]

The Bavarian "Enigma Variations" that RC just played sounded terrific

A completely new one on me - amazing 'user reviews'... http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...e=UTF8&s=music