BARBICAN LIFE
Farewell Sir Colin
A tribute from the London Symphony Orchestra to Sir Colin Davis (1927 - 2013) who sadly passed away in April
S
Sir Colin conducting the LSO in the Barbican Hall
ir Colin Davis passed away after illness on 14 April 2013, at the age of 85. He will be remembered with great affection and admiration by music lovers around the world who have been inspired by his performances and recordings.
Sir Colin first conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in 1959 and became Principal Conductor in 1995. As the longest serving Principal Conductor in the LSO's history, Sir Colin held a special relationship with the orchestra.
In his later years, he made a commitment to sharing his knowledge with younger generations, mentoring many aspiring performers and conductors at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School, where his musicianship and kind nature was cherished. Liz Williams (the BL editor’s daughter) and Senior Concert and Orchestra Manager at the Royal Academy of Music remembers him fondly thus “Sir Colin was a conductor we all had real affection for. He was a self-effacing, kind and generous man with a seriously wicked sense of humour and he will be missed terribly by all of us who worked closely with him. I feel privileged to have known him and feel genuinely lucky that I have so many memories dating back to when I started working at the Academy in 1999. From sitting down with him at lunch and hearing him tell stories about times gone by, to him cracking open a bottle of whisky in the green room after a concert and sharing it around with everyone (and I mean everyone) that came in, to sitting at his kitchen table drinking tea and eating cake, he was someone my colleagues and I truly loved spending time with. We are so sad we will no longer be able to do so.”
Sir Colin has left behind a legacy of authoritative recordings, including over forty releases recorded in the Barbican Hall for the orchestra's own label, LSO Live. The label's first release of Dvorak's 9th Symphony, conducted by Sir Colin, set the standard for the label and helped establish it as the most successful of its kind in the world. Sir Colin was awarded two Grammy Awards, a Classical Brit Award
6
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60