Review: Andrew Davis Tows The British Line

After many years of listening to Elgar, I have finally understood Falstaff! It’s now my favorite work of his—better even than the wonderful Enigma Variations. Andrew Davis’s latest version on Chandos is absolutely stunning and the sound is terrific!

On the pronunciation of Cockaigne, someone once wrote to Elgar saying, "“I always thought cocaine was an anesthetic; let us hope the overture won’t have that effect upon its hearers. If it does, why not call it ‘Chloroform’ at once?” Elgar wrote back immediately, “ ‘Ether’ will do.”

I love his disc that has the V-W 9th symphony and "Job" together. That's a great combo. As I'm certain you know, he re-recorded those same two for Chandos.

In all fairness, Rattle may still go to Munich and Barbirolli was constantly taking posts abroad, but I get the point. I know you hate Davis's new recording of the Planets but I honestly love it. It's one of the few that makes it sound like anything else which Holst wrote. Weirdly, Davis is one of the great Janacek conductors. He's done so much of it and all of it is stunning.

Agree concerning Falstaff.

With regards to your comments about English conductors coming home Roger Norrington stayed abroad in Stuttgart, although you may very well feel that was a blessing for English concert-goers!

Agree with just about every word, including your wondering why Davis doesn't get the recognition he deserves in the English music press. Perhaps he just doesn't cut it at bridge or went to the wrong school. I was fortunate to be living in Toronto when he first got the big job with the TSO and I heard him conduct some of the most memorable concerts I've attended. Absolutely brilliant performances of both Elgar symphonies, better than any of his recordings and a huge range of non-British composers including by far the most cohesive Prokofiev 6th I've ever heard. From the first note you felt he had a grip on the entire piece, he was amazingly good at bringing out the structure of works not normally rated for their form. In Elgar 2 he achieved better than I've ever heard it before or since, a sense of terror in the development of the first movement where a solo oboe struggles through a countersubject against the trudge of the full orchestra almost swamping it. A terrific Janacek conductor too. Thanks Dave, you're doing a great job.

English Symphonic School has many good composers, sometimes they are genius like Vaughan Williams for instance. I don't understand why in my country, Italy, they are not so well-known or unperformed or poorly or rarely performed...what a pity! Sir Andrew Davis is one of my favourite conductors in this repertoire...many thanks for this video!

The VW cycle I always thought was underrated. Meanwhile Haitink was praised to the skies...?

Do you like Bax? Quite a productive composer

"Toes" the line, the metaphor is from running.

Andrew Davis has never gotten the International attention that I feel he deserves as a conductor/musician. Maybe he just gets lost in the barnyard.