Conductor led famed London Symphony Orchestra
LONDON — Colin Davis, the former principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and one of Britain’s elder statesmen of classical music, has died. He was 85.
The orchestra said Davis died Sunday after a short illness.
One of the best- known figures in British music, Davis worked with the London symphony for more than half a century. He first conducted for the LSO in 1959 and took the principal conductor post in 1995, serving until 2006 before becoming president. The orchestra said Davis had been “at the head of the LSO family for many years.”
“His musicianship and his humanity have been cherished by musicians and audiences alike,” it said, adding “music lovers across the world have been inspired by his performances and recordings.”
Associated in particular with the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jean Sibelius and Hector Berlioz, Davis won three Grammy Awards — two in 2002 for the LSO recording of Les Troyens by Berlioz, and one for Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff four years later — and a host of other trophies.
Colin Rex Davis was born in Weybridge, England, on Sept. 25, 1927, one of seven children of a bank clerk. Thanks to a generous relative, he studied at the private school Christ’s Hospital, then at the Royal College of Music, before spending compulsory military service as a clarinetist with the band of the Household Cavalry.
He leaves two children from first wife April Cantelo, and five from second wife Ashraf Naini.