Sir Andrew Davis remembered, and Martha Wainwright returns to Australia The Music Show

For over fifty years, Sir Andrew Davis (1944–2024) was one of the world's busiest conductors, He conducted in the opera house and the concert hall and his repertoire ranged from Bach to Birtwistle. In the mid 1970s, he became chief conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, then took on Glyndebourne Opera, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago - always for long stretches. From 2012 to 2019 he was chief conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and thereafter the orchestra's conductor laureate. He died this week at the age of 80, and we remember him in the company of Benjamin Northey, the MSO's principal conductor, and listen to excerpts from some of Sir Andrew's Music Show interviews.  

Martha Wainwright returns to Australia, playing old and new songs. She dips into her family’s discography as well as her experiences of rebirth over the last few years in her latest album, Love Will Be Reborn, which was accompanied by a memoir that looks back at a life of joy, grief and family.

Martha Wainwright is on tour around Australia:

Wednesday, May 8 – Princess Theatre, Brisbane, QLD
Thursday, May 9 – Anita’s Theatre, Wollongong, NSW
Friday, May 10 – City Recital Hall, Sydney, NSW
Saturday, May 11 – Civic Theatre, Newcastle, NSW
Sunday, May 12 – Blue Mountains Theatre, Blue Mountains, NSW
Tuesday, May 14 – The Gov, Adelaide, SA
Thursday, May 16 – Odeon Theatre, Hobart, TAS
Friday, May 17 – Recital Centre, Melbourne, VIC
Saturday, May 18 – Capital Theatre, Bendigo, VIC

Music heard in the show:

Title: Symphony No. 9 in E minor
Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
Artist: Bergen Philharmonic, Sir Andrew Davis (conductor)
Album: Symphony No. 9
Label: Chandos CHSA5180

Title: Your Rockaby
Composer: Mark-Anthony Turnage
Artist: Martin Robertson (saxophone), BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis (conductor)
Album: Turnage: Your Rockaby; Night Dances; Dispelling The Fears
Label: Argo 4525982

Title: Enigma Variations; x. Nimrod
Composer: Edward Elgar
Artist: BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis (conductor)
Album: The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
Label: Warner Classics 2564660472

Title: The Mask of Orpheus; 3 Orphic Hymns – Hymn of Catharsis
Composer: Harrison Birtwistle
Artist: BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, Martyn Brabbins (conductor), Sir Andrew Davis (conductor)
Album: The Mask of Orpheus
Label: NMC NMCD050

Title: Brigg Fair (An English Rhapsody)
Composer: Frederic Delius
Artist: Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis (conductor)
Album: Delius Orchestral Works
Label: Chandos CHAN10742

Title: Love Will Be Reborn
Composer: Martha Wainwright
Artist: Martha Wainwright
Album: Love Will Be Reborn
Label: Pheromone Records

Title: Dinner at Eight
Composer: Rufus Wainwright
Artist: Martha Wainwright
Album: Love Will Be Reborn
Label: Pheromone Records

Title: Tell My Sister
Composer: Kate McGarrigle
Artist: Martha Wainwright
Album: Love Will Be Reborn
Label: Pheromone Records

Title: Being Right
Composer: Martha Wainwright
Artist: Martha Wainwright
Album: Love Will Be Reborn
Label: Pheromone Records

Title: There Is Power In A Union
Composer: Billy Bragg
Artist: Billy Bragg
Album: Talking With the Taxman About Poetry
Label: Cooking Vinyl COOKCD304

The Music Show is produced on Gadigal and Gundungurra Country

Technical production by John Jacobs