DAVIS, SIR COLIN

born Sept. 25, 1927, Weybridge, Surrey, Eng. in full Sir Colin Rex Davis English conductor and the foremost modern interpreter of composer Hector Berlioz, whose complete orchestral and operatic works Davis recorded. Davis turned to conducting after studying clarinet at the Royal College of Music in London. Appointed assistant conductor of the BBC Scottish Orchestra in 1957, he gained critical acclaim while substituting for an ill Otto Klemperer in a Festival Hall performance of Don Giovanni in 1959. From 1961 to 1965 Davis was musical director of Sadler's Wells Opera, and from 1967 to 1971 he served as principal conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 1971 he succeeded Georg Solti as musical director of Covent Garden Opera. He was knighted in 1980. Davis' enthusiastic, vivid, and fresh interpretations enhanced his conducting of Berlioz, W.A. Mozart, Igor Stravinsky, and Sir Michael Tippett.