Sir Colin Davis

Sir Colin Davis (born September 25, 1927, Weybridge, Surrey, England—died April 14, 2013, London) was an English conductor, the foremost modern interpreter of the composer Hector Berlioz, whose complete orchestral and operatic works Davis recorded.

Davis turned to conducting after studying clarinet at the Royal College of Music in London. He was appointed assistant conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 1957, and he gained critical acclaim while substituting for an ill Otto Klemperer in a Festival Hall performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni in 1959. From 1961 to 1965 Davis was musical director of Sadler’s Wells Opera, and from 1967 to 1971 he served as principal conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 1971 he succeeded Georg Solti as musical director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Davis was music director and principal conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1983 to 1992. He was named principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1995, having first conducted the orchestra in 1959 and been principal guest conductor since 1975; recordings with the orchestra won multiple Grammy Awards, as well as the British and French equivalents. He was principal guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic from 1998 to 2003. Many other major orchestras engaged him as guest conductor. He approached both the musicians and the music with respect, remarking in an interview, “Conducting is like holding the bird of life in your hand: hold it too tight and it dies, hold it too lightly and it flies away.”

Davis was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1965 and was knighted in 1980; in 2001 he was named to the Order of the Companions of Honour.