It is with sadness that I learn of the death of Sir Andrew Davis.

Although Davis had a vast repertoire spanning all eras, he was always a great champion of English music, including the works of Ralph Vaughan Williams. At the time of his death, he was, in fact, president of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society.

I was lucky enough to have seen him in concert several times. Most memorably, he introduced and oversaw Olivier Messiaen’s reckless epic erotic mindblower, the “Turangalîla Symphony,” in Philadelphia. (What could be more erotic than the ondes Martenot?)

On a later visit, he brought more heavy-breathing – this time literally, as there is actual breathing in the score – in the form of Sir Michael Tippet’s Symphony No. 4.

Both works are rarely done – “Turangalîla,” a 20th century classic, because of its scale, and the Tippett, well, because it’s Tippett. (“Turangalîla” is programmed from time to time, but I never would have guessed that I would hear the Tippett a second time, years later, performed by the New Jersey Symphony!)

Over the course of his career, Davis served as principal conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1975-1988), the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (2013-2019), and Lyric Opera Chicago (2002-2021), and chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1989-2000) and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera (1988-2000). He was a regular presence at the BBC Proms.

He conducted Vaughan Williams’ Fifth Symphony in Baltimore last year, but sadly I was already overbooked that weekend (with, among other things, another performance of Vaughan Williams’ Fifth Symphony!).

Davis died yesterday in Chicago at the age of 80. He had been living with leukemia. His wife, American soprano Gianni Rolandi, predeceased him in 2021.

R.I.P.

Vaughan Williams, Symphony No. 5

Elgar, “The Dream of Gerontius”

Walton, “Belshazzar’s Feast”

From Messiaen’s “Turangalîla Symphony,” “Joy of the Blood of the Stars”

Andrew Davis interviewed

PHOTO: At the Last Night of the Proms in 2000