Sir Andrew Davis: First Knight of the Proms

Sir Andrew in full flight at the Last Night of the Proms

By Andrew Walker of the BBC's News Profiles Unit

What do Richard Wagner, the Kray twins and Bob Dylan have in common? Well, apart from their fame, or notoriety, they have all appeared at the Royal Albert Hall, the Krays being noted amateur boxers.

This weekend the Hall, which sits majestically at the edge of London's Hyde Park, resonated to the sounds of that annual musical and patriotic bean-feast, the Last Night of the Proms.

At the centre of all the hullabaloo, like a benevolent and jovial ringmaster, was the Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis.

It was Sir Andrew's final Last Night with the BBC Symphony, as he was departing immediately afterward to take up a new post with the Chicago Lyric Opera.

The face of the Proms

His 11 years with the orchestra have seen him become the face of the Proms and, to many, the personification of British classical music. But the Last Night, with its Union Jacks and silly hats, is just the tip of the iceberg.

A former organ scholar at King's College, Cambridge, Sir Andrew Davis was thrust into the limelight in November 1970 when, owing to the sudden indisposition of the conductor Eliahu Inbal, he was asked to conduct Janácek's sweeping Glagolitic Mass with the BBC Symphony.

That first performance, for which the then 26 year-old conductor had just two days to learn the score, marked the start of a career which has seen the boy born in a Nissen hut in wartime Hertfordshire rise to become one of the greatest, and most charismatic, conductors in the world.

Audacity

The range, some would say audacity, of Sir Andrew Davis' repertoire is stunning. Like Solti, Bernstein and Haitink, he brings his considerable talents to bear not only to symphonic works, but also to choral and operatic pieces.

He has taken Glyndebourne Festival Opera to new heights

The Last Night also saw him relinquish his other post, as Music Director of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, where he has built a solid reputation, especially for the works of Mozart.

In a fiercely competitive world, which imposes its own huge creative, intellectual and physical demands upon performers and conductors alike, Sir Andrew has achieved a good balance, mastering the general classical repertoire which is the bedrock of every conductor's trade, while embracing innovative works by younger composers like Mark-Anthony Turnage.

Huge Range

The Director of the BBC Proms, Nicholas Kenyon, is quick to praise his Chief Conductor. "He's conducted a huge range of music, made innovative recordings of British orchestral works and has performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra around the world, including at the Salzburg and Lucerne Festivals.

"His dedication has taken the orchestra to new heights."

The BBC Symphony: one of the world's finest

An avowed acolyte of Sir Edward Elgar, after whom he named his son, Sir Andrew has conducted all three of his oratorios, The Apostles, The Kingdom and The Dream of Gerontius, as well as the hugely successful world première of Elgar's Third Symphony, originally commissioned by the BBC in 1932 and completed by Anthony Payne.

"He has greatly extended the BBC Symphony's repertoire," says Nicholas Kenyon "with a number of important world premières and through detailed explorations of the works of Berlioz, Richard Strauss and Stravinsky."

Attention to detail

Sir Andrew's personal style is characterised by a meticulous attention to detail, a real understanding of the lyricism underlying a work and a performing style as exuberant and lively as the man himself, arching his body and contorting his face in controlled, yet animated, concentration.

Though he will be based in the United States, Sir Andrew will not abandon the BBC Symphony totally. As its first-ever Conductor Laureate he will tour South America with the orchestra next year and also work with it in London.

Sir Andrew Davis: A meticulous eye for detail

But his next major project will be his first Ring Cycle, Wagner's four huge operas which are regarded as the pinnacle of the repertoire. "Change is salutary and stimulating", he says.

Before all that, though, there was the Last Night. Sir Andrew Davis received an ecstatic send-off from serious Prommers and once-a-year attendees alike.

As the final strains of Jerusalem die away, he can be sure in the knowledge that his time as the public face of "the Classics" has been a huge success.