One of the most loved and esteemed conductors of his generation, Sir Andrew Davis, who has died of leukemia aged 80, was a well-known presence on stage, not least through his numerous appearances at the BBC Proms in his capacity as principal conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1989-2000).
After Adrian Boult, this was the second longest tenure in the orchestra's history. During the same period he was also music director of the Glyndebourne Opera (1988-2000), where he conducted works by Mozart, Janáček and Richard Strauss, among others.
The vast scope of his repertoire was, in fact, one of the defining features of Davis' career. Not only was he praised as an empathetic interpreter of British music from Elgar and Vaughan Williams to Holst and Bliss, but he also had the ability to create contemporary scores such as Michael Tippett's The Mask of Time, Harrison Birtwistle's The Mask of Orpheus and Nicholas Sackman's to assimilate. David Sawer's Hawthorn or Byrnan Wood, all of which were introduced or recorded at the Proms. The Birtwistle was named record of the year at the 1987 Gramophone Awards.
But as he showed season after season in the BBC post, Davis could bring both vitality and a keen sense of idiom to virtually any music. You almost randomly remember a 2015 concert with a sensual account of Delius' In a Summer Garden, followed by a lithe and muscular suite from Ravel's erotic Daphnis et Chloé, where the ecstatic choral cries and hair-raising climaxes leave little to the imagination. The concert also featured music by Carl Nielsen and a new work, Epithalamion, by Hugh Wood.
One of the many highlights of his Proms performances was his impressive 1998 premiere of Elgar's Third Symphony in Anthony Payne's "elaboration" (essentially a performance version created from the composer's sketches).
Another was his speech from the podium in 1992, delivered as a banter song to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's "I Am the Model of a Modern Major General," complete with witty rhymes and a rejoinder to the rapt audience. The trick was repeated on the final night of the 2000 festival, his last as the orchestra's chief conductor.
His arrival at the BBC Symphony Orchestra had to be won over by the more combative members of the ensemble, but they were, by his brilliant wit and charm, as well as by his purely musical talents.
He was also popular with soloists, who did not necessarily offer a radically new perspective of themselves, but listened attentively to provide ideal accompaniment. The pianist Stephen Hough said he had "the sharpest ear and the brightest stick." Both on and off stage, Davis exuded bonhomie and affability. His concern as a conductor was always to create the conditions in which musicians could give the best of themselves.
Born in Ashridge, Hertfordshire, he was the son of Robert Davis, a composer, and his wife Joyce (née Badminton). Andrew started learning piano at the age of five and attended secondary school in Watford. In 1959 he began organ studies with Peter Hurford and subsequently won an organ scholarship to King's College, Cambridge, where he played under David Willcocks. He subsequently studied conducting at the Accademia di S Cecilia, Rome, under Franco Ferrara, and in London with George Hurst. From 1966 to 1970 he was pianist, harpsichordist and organist at the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
In 1970 he made his debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and in the same year was appointed assistant conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He subsequently became principal guest conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (1974-77) and music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1975-88), whose status he enhanced with major tours of North America, Europe and Asia.
In 1982 he helped establish the orchestra's new home at Roy Thomson Hall, and advised on the construction of the organ. Then came the posts at the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Glyndebourne. His debut with the latter was in Capriccio (1973) and he would become a well-known exponent of Strauss's operas.
In 1989 he married the soprano Gianni Rolandi, whom he had met when she sang Zerbinetta under his baton, first at the Metropolitan, New York, in 1984 and again at Glyndebourne in 1988.
After retiring from the BBC in 2000, he moved to the US with Rolandi and their son Edward to take up the appointment of music director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago until 2021, where he conducted almost 700 opera performances - again from a formidable repertoire - including Wagner's Ring cycle (2004-2005). A second cycle was planned for the 2019-2020 season but was never completed due to the Covid pandemic. He also conducted orchestral concerts at the Lyric and free concerts in Millennium Park.
From 2012 to 2019, he also held the position of Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and became Conductor Laureate, while continuing to live in the US.
In addition to his conducting, he made an orchestration of Handel's Messiah, performed with the Toronto orchestra, and of Berg's Piano Sonata, Opus 1, and Passacaglia (Berg was a composer who, he once said, inspired him throughout his life). His own compositions include La Serenissima: Inventions on a Theme by Claudio Monteverdi (1980), Chansons Innocentes for children's choir and orchestra (1984) and Alice (2003) - settings by Lewis Carroll for mezzo-soprano, tenor and children's choir. At his death he was orchestrating some of JS Bach's organ music.
During the pandemic lockdown, he used his knowledge of the classics, acquired as a student, to create an original translation of Virgil's Aeneid. Although modest about his poetic skills, he noted that the experience was similar to that of making music: "The manipulation of sonorities and rhythms and the search for ways to bring to life the vibrancy of Virgil's images and at times struck its great emotional power is remarkably similar to the quest I have been engaged in on stage all my life."
His numerous recordings reflect the enormous range of his repertoire, with British and contemporary music appearing alongside Stravinsky, Strauss, Berlioz, Ives, Sibelius, Weill and the complete Dvořák symphonies. A 16-CD retrospective collection celebrating British composers from Teldec's The British Line series was released by Warner Classics.
In 1991 he received the Music Prize of the Royal Philharmonic Society/Charles Heidsieck. He was appointed CBE in 1992 and knighted in 1999.
Rolandi died in 2021. Davis is survived by Edward, a composer, singer and conductor.
* Andrew Frank Davis, conductor, born February 2, 1944; died April 20, 2024
