# Colin Davis 1927 - 2013



## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22148334

Sorry to hear the news.

PS Missed it in the news Section


----------



## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

May he rest in peace.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

The guy was Conductor/Director in two recordings I cherish; Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto with Arrau/Dresden, and the LP era Les Troyens with the LSO.


----------



## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Maestro Davis' masterful recordings of Berlioz's great works have brought me no end of joy.

RIP


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

He left us a lot. I've most appreciated his Berlioz (especially the Requiem), Haydn's London Symphonies, Sibelius symphonies, and his Grieg/Schumann concertos with Kovacevich.


----------



## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

RIP! He got a long life and left us a high quality recorded legacy!

/ptr


----------



## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

Definitely remember his Schumann/Grieg concertos. The Haydn was a bit too smooth for me.


----------



## Guest (Apr 15, 2013)

science said:


> Haydn's London Symphonies


That's all I've got of his.

The earliest memory I have of Davis is a report on TV when he did last Night of the Proms in the late 60s - I must have been 8 or 9. I'd never heard of the Proms before, so was surprised that it came back the following year for another 'last' night. I recall his not being too popular, and having checked this out, I see that he took over from Sir Malcolm Sargent.

Says wiki..



> At first, so far as the public was concerned, his tenure was overshadowed, at least during the orchestra's most conspicuous concert seasons, the Proms, by the memory of Sir Malcolm Sargent, who had been an immensely popular figure as chief conductor of the Proms until 1966. Sargent had been "a suave father figure"[SUP][20][/SUP] to the promenaders, and it took some time for the much younger Davis to be accepted.[SUP][19][/SUP] The BBC's official historian of the Proms later wrote, "Davis never really identified himself with the Proms in the way that Sargent had done.[SUP][20][/SUP] Davis was uncomfortable with the traditional hullabaloo of the Last Night of the Proms and attempted, unsuccessfully, to modernise it.[SUP][21[/SUP]


What does anyone else recall?


----------



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Sir Colin will be missed, but he leaves a wonderful legacy of so many outstanding recordings of music by such composers as Mozart, Berlioz Sibelius, Tippett, Beethoven, and so many others . They will be heard and admired as long as recordings exist .


----------



## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

He was a genius with Berlioz; brilliant, but _strange._


----------



## julianoq (Jan 29, 2013)

Just listened to his version Symphonie Fantastique, very good stuff. Now listening to the Sibelius 2nd with BSO, not a top performance but still quite good. He will be missed.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Gramophone just published a detailed obituary.

http://tinyurl.com/bv2bnbm


----------



## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

One of my first favorite conductors; may he rest in peace.


----------



## jtbell (Oct 4, 2012)

aww... 

My first exposure to him was his first Sibelius symphony cycle with the Boston Symphony. I originally bought those recordings on LP when they first came out while I was in graduate school. Time to dig out the CDs, rip them, and listen to them again.


----------



## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

My March podcast featuring Davis in Berlioz's Requiem:
http://itywltmt.blogspot.ca/2013/03/montage-96-grande-messe-des-morts.html


----------



## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

my respects to the man who truly loved Mozart's Clemenza when it was way less cool to do so :tiphat:


----------



## poconoron (Oct 26, 2011)

deggial said:


> my respects to the man who truly loved Mozart's Clemenza when it was way less cool to do so :tiphat:


And, respects to the man who loved Mozart above all other composers.


----------



## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

He had the best version of Symphonie Fantastique!


----------



## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

RIP Maestro Davis. Davis was a marvelous conductor of Mozart, Haydn, Sibelius, Walton... and Berlioz over all.

A few of my favorite recordings by Davis:


----------

