La Scena Musicale asked some of our regular contributors to share their memories of Sir Andrew Davis, former conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Gianmarco Segato, Denise Lai and Joseph So had this to say:
GIANMARCO SEGATO: Sir Andrew Davis left a huge recording legacy, which is perhaps where I learned to love and appreciate his art the most. That his musical tastes dovetailed with my own, and over time, even shaped them, is something for which I’ll always be grateful. Sir Andrew’s repertoire was indeed vast, but certain proclivities emerged over the course of his long career. He was a big proponent of British music — not only expected pieces like Holst’s The Planets, which he memorably recorded with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for EMI — but early-to-mid twentieth-century ephemera by Elgar, Delius and Tippett. Davis enjoyed a 50-year association with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, including his tenure as their Chief Conductor from 1991-2004, the longest in that role since its founder, Sir Adrian Boult. Of their many recordings together, I have a special affection for their traversal of Elgar’s Symphony #2 (Warner). Elgar’s two symphonies show a side of the composer that flout all cliched notions of Edwardian stuffiness, and Davis mines the darkness and profundity at the core of his Symphony #2.
Sir Andrew was also a huge proponent of French music, recording the music of Franck, Duruflé, Fauré, Bizet and especially, Berlioz with many different orchestras. He had a particular penchant for Massenet, championing his operas worldwide, including his 2019 performances of Cendrillon at Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he was Music Director and Principal Conductor from 2000-2021. My entry into Davis’s Massenet world came with his 2020 recording of Thaïs, made during concert performances at Roy Thomson Hall with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. This marked the culmination of a sort of Thaïs ‘world tour,’ with previous outings in Edinburgh and Sydney, as in Toronto, with Erin Wall singing the title role. This was one of the Canadian-American soprano’s final performances before her untimely death from cancer in 2020 (she was 44). Davis had been a big supporter of Wall since her days in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center training program. This was the kind of generous mentoring and loyalty that will be sorely missed by many artists in the classical music world.
Sir Andrew Davis, Photo by Lucas Dawson
DENISE LAI: My first encounter with Sir Andrew was in the late 1990s, when I was singing with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and performed in concerts with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. I worked with him a few times, but my strongest memory is of performing Messiah. He had a sharp wit and a dry sense of humour. Unlike some other conductors, who focused mainly on the orchestra, he always made a point to interact with the choir.
I last saw him conduct at the TSO 100th Anniversary concerts, in which the past and present conductors (except Seiji Ozawa) all shared the same stage. There was a definite chemistry and sense of familiarity between them. The music flowed like a conversation between old friends.
JOSEPH SO: Words fail, only replaced by a lump in my throat, when I think of the many years of pleasure Sir Andrew’s music-making has given me. His tenure at the TSO began in 1975, the same year that I left the University of Manitoba to take up an appointment at Trent University, which was a 90-minute drive to first Massey Hall, and then Roy Thomson Hall, starting in 1982. This marked the start of my decades of attending the TSO on a regular basis –so many memorable concerts!
In the beginning, Sir Andrew was still in his relative youth. Although he was perhaps not the great conductor that he later became, his heart was at the right place. Along with his innate musical gifts, he grew to into a wonderful musical statesman. The musicians loved him! I was in the audience when the TSO gave him a gift. They brought it onto the stage – a canoe! A unique experience for us audience members.
Sir Andrew Davis conducts the TSO, Photo by Malcolm Cook
Every time I attend a performance of Handel’s Messiah, I think of Sir Andrew, and his quirky and hilarious take on the choral section “All we like sheep.” Sir Andrew’s tinkering with the Messiah score always brought much merriment to the audience, myself included! I will miss his Messiah in the future.
On a personal level, I was always struck by his warmth and easy-going nature, in my several journalistic interactions with him. One memorable exchange occurred when I called him in Chicago to get his thoughts on Canadian soprano Erin Wall, at the time of her passing, Sir Andrew had the kindest, most heartfelt things to say about Wall. Both he and his wife, the late soprano Gianna Rolandi, were mentors of Erin when she was studying at the Ryan Centre in Chicago.
Sir Andrew may be gone, but his legacy remains, in the huge discography of recordings and videos, and above all, in the hearts of those of us touched by his artistry.
