Sir Andrew Davis: 10 Essential Recordings
Monday, April 22, 2024
A selection of just a few of Sir Andrew Davis's finest moments on record, featuring music by Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Delius, Walton and Tippett
Delius Appalachia. The Song of the High Hills
BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Andrew Davis (Chandos)
‘After the deaths of two great interpreters of Delius – Sir Charles Mackerras and Richard Hickox – I often wondered how soon it would be before another sympathetic Delius exponent emerged. Clearly Sir Andrew Davis is just that. This is a magnificent, clear-edged recording of two challenging, problematic works, performed here with vibrancy and confidence.’ (Jeremy Dibble)
Elgar The Dream of Gerontius. Sea Pictures
Stuart Skelton ten Sarah Connolly mez BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Andrew Davis (Chandos)
‘A superbly paced and lovingly shaped Prelude immediately proclaims Sir Andrew Davis’s formidable credentials in this repertoire; indeed, his patient and scrupulously observant conception of the whole work evinces a selfless authority, wisdom and instinctive ebb and flow, and he certainly secures a splendidly disciplined and consistently fervent response from his massed BBC Symphony forces.’ (Andrew Achenbach)
Elgar Violin Concerto. Serenade for Strings
James Ehnes vn Philharmonia Orchestra / Andrew Davis (Onyx)
‘Ehnes is fortunate in enjoying the support of Sir Andrew Davis, a proven Elgarian whose wonderfully perceptive conducting has authoritative sweep, elasticity and fiery passion to spare (witness the memorably eruptive orchestral tutti from fig 23 or 9'27" in the first movement) as well as a very special understanding of those moments of aching intimacy in which this of all scores abounds... Davis’s utterly unforced and ravishingly moving account of the entrancing Serenade makes a cherishable pendant.’ (Andrew Achenbach)
Elgar Symphony No 2. In the South
BBC Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Davis (Warner Classics)
‘Hearing again Sir Andrew Davis’s magnificently unforced and deeply moving 1992 recording of Elgar’s Second has merely confirmed its exceptional qualities. Not only does Davis display a structural grasp that is second to none, but he also penetrates unerringly to the symphony’s emotional core.’ (Andrew Achenbach)
Elgar Falstaff. Orchestral Songs. Grania and Diarmid
Roderick Williams bar BBC Philharmonic / Andrew Davis (Chandos)
‘This is Andrew Davis’s third recording of Elgar’s Falstaff. It is, not to beat about the bush, a superbly perceptive traversal, evincing a strength of purpose, emotional candour and meticulous attention to detail that give it the edge over its notable predecessors featuring the New Philharmonia (Lyrita, 9/75) and BBC SO (Warner Apex, 8/05). Right from the outset there’s an irresistibly idiomatic swagger, acuity and temperament that put me in mind of both the composer’s own miraculous 1931 account and the classic 1964 Barbirolli, Shakespeare’s fat knight effortlessly springing to life before our very eyes in all his complexity and, at the last, frailty (the wistful closing pages are enormously touching here).’ (Andrew Achenbach)
Elgar The Crown of India
Sols; Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus & BBC Philharmonic / Andrew Davis (Chandos)
‘The performance possesses all the sterling virtues that we have come to expect from one of this composer’s most distinguished exponents. Sir Andrew directs with contagious relish, no little charisma (witness the glinting spectacle of the “March of the Mogul Emperors”) and instinctive ebb and flow, the BBC PO and Sheffield Philharmonic Choir acquitting themselves in kind with admirable skill and commitment.’ (Andrew Achenbach)
Tippett Ritual Dances. Concerto for double string orchestra. Fantasia Concertante
Michael Davis, Jacqueline Hartley, Paul Watkins; BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus / Andrew Davis (Warner Apex)
‘A Tippett conductor of proven pedigree and insight‚ Sir Andrew Davis masterminds a distinguished set of performances‚ that of the sublime Fantasia concertante on a Theme of Corelli striking me as altogether remarkable in its unquenchable spirit‚ lyrical fervour and inspirational sweep.’ (Andrew Achenbach)
Vaughan Williams Symphony No 6. The Lark Ascending. Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Tasmin Little vn BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sir Andrew Davis (Warner Classics)
‘As Sixths go, this deserves a place on any short list. No grumbles, either, about the two-fill-ups; the Tallis Fantasia brings some ravishing string sonorities (superb engineering throughout, by the way), and Tasmin Little’s is an intoxicating, silvery presence in The Lark Ascending.’ (Andrew Achenbach)
Vaughan Williams Symphony No 9 & Job
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Andrew Davis (Chandos)
‘Come the visionary finale, clear-sighted rigour goes hand in hand with a questing spirit to cap a mightily impressive Ninth that, to my mind, deserves a place at the top table alongside the 1969 Boult, Handley and Haitink.’ (Andrew Achenbach, March 2017)
Walton Belshazzar's Feast
Bryn Terfel; BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Andrew Davis (Warner Apex)
‘The best features of this performance under Sir Andrew Davis are biggies indeed: choral singing that is consistently disciplined, evocative and ‘light’ when it needs to be (Stephen Jackson’s BBC Symphony Chorus sounds fresh and the presence of the BBC Singers makes all the difference); a higher level of articulation overall (note the sforzandos in bars 741-43, ‘For Babylon the Great is fallen’) than heard elsewhere; general agility and panache from the orchestra at high speeds (possibly the highest on record); a real, room-shaking organ sound; and the palpable atmosphere of the Last Night of the Proms.’ (Andrew Mellor)
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