- English conductor and clarinettist, his video films include "The Turn of the Screw."
- He is the first British conductor to conduct at Bayreuth.
- He is a specialist in the music of Hector Berlioz. He made the first full-length recording of Berlioz's extremely long opera, "Les Troyens", starring Jon Vickers as Aeneas.
- He is currently (2006) conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
- Conductor of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1971-1987).
- Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1973-1983).
- Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1967-1971).
- He was awarded the C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1965 and awarded the Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in 1980 for his services to music.
- He was awarded the CH (Companion of Honour) in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to to Music. He was Principal Conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra.
- He won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, but since he couldn't play the piano, he was not allowed to take the conducting class. Instead, he spent 10 years as a clarinet player (part of that time in the band of the Household Cavalry), and as a struggling freelance conductor.
- He was the fifth of seven children. His father was a bank clerk. The family didn't have a piano, but did have a gramophone and a collection of classical music records to which young Davis listened avidly.
- He began his conducting career as assistant conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 1957. He got his big break in 1959, when Otto Klemperer fell ill and Davis took his place at the Royal Festival Hall to conduct a concert performance of Mozart's "Don Giovanni", with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.
- Barnsbury, London, England (May 2009)
- He made his first gramophone recordings in 1958, and his discography over the next five decades was extensive, with many studio recordings for Philips Records and a substantial catalogue of live recordings for the London Symphony Orchestra's own label.
- As a teacher, Davis held posts at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and the Landesgymnasium für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber" (preparatory school for music) in Dresden.
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