Sir Colin Davis's career breakthrough came in 1961 when he successfully stepped in for the indisposed Otto Klemperer in London.
Composer's Artistic Vision
For the final movement of his Symphony No. 6, Ralph Vaughan Williams suggested that lines from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' best captured the music's meaning: 'We are such stuffe as dreames are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleepe.'
Composition History
Edward Elgar's 'Enigma Variations' (Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36) were composed in 1898 and use musical codes and allusions to portray people from his close circle.
Performer Biography
Sir Colin Davis, the conductor on this album, decided to become a conductor at age 13 after hearing Beethoven's 8th Symphony, an experience he compared to St. Paul's conversion.
Composition History
Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 6, completed in 1947 and premiered in 1948, features four movements played continuously without a break.
Recording & Production
The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra) was named among the ten best orchestras in the world by the British music magazine Gramophone in December 2008.
Interpretation
Sir Colin Davis's conducting style is characterized by naturalness, with music flowing as if by its own inner momentum, and he believes the key lies in the human body's rhythm of breathing, walking, and dancing.
