This series contains material relating to Peter G. Davis's published music criticism, spanning his entire professional career as a journalist and commentator (1963-2018). The series includes clippings or tearings of Davis's published reviews and feature articles, complete editions of publications in which Davis's criticism was published, print-outs of reviews and articles that were published online, along with drafts (handwritten and printed, annotated and unannotated) of his published work. Publications featured in this series include publications which Davis wrote for regularly as a full-time staff columnist (The New York Times, 1975-1981; New York Magazine, 1981-2007), publications to which he contributed criticism on a freelance or part-time basis (The New York Times; Ovation Magazine; Opus Magazine; Opera News; Keynote Magazine; Connoisseur; Musical America), and publications where he also served as an editor (The New York Times, 1975-1981; High Fidelity; Musical America). This series includes correspondence with editors at Opera News, and material relating to Davis's dismissal from New York magazine in 2007. This series also comprises floppy disks containing drafts of his music columns. This series contains a number of reviews that were sent in correspondence by Davis's husband, Scott Parris, which have been filed together.
This series also includes Davis's professional correspondence - primarily addressed to Davis - in the form of letters, cards, and emails, spanning much of his career as a professional music critic (1970s-2010s). This series also contains a number of full publications that were sent to Davis through and as correspondence. Davis appears to have organized his correspondence thematically: reader correspondence is interspersed with correspondence from Davis's editors and other ephemera. Additionally, Davis kept correspondence from certain prominent musicians separate from his other professional correspondence, mostly celebrated musicians who wrote to thank Davis for his review(s) of their work. Musical figures represented in this differentiated correspondence include (among others) conductors (Leonard Bernstein, Erich Leinsdorf), pianists (Glen Gould, Emanuel Ax), singers (Régine Crespin, Dawn Upshaw), composers (Ned Rorem, Virgil Thomson), critics (Tim Page, Donald Henehan), and impresarios (Speight Jenkins, Lou Galterio). Autographed memorabilia (from singers Renata Tebaldi, Anna Russell, and Frances Bible) is interspersed among this separate correspondence. This series also contains posthumous tributes to Peter Davis, including published obituaries of Peter Davis and letters written to Davis's husband, Scott Parris, sharing condolences in the wake of his passing in 2021.
Box 1 Folder 1-6
Complete issues of Opera News, 1974-1975, 1983, 1986-1988, 1990-1991, 1999, 2000, 2002, 6 folders
Box 1 Folder 7
Material relating to Opera News, circa 2014-2015
Also includes contracts with the magazine.
Box 1 Folder 8
Correspondence with Opera News, 2005-2007, 2009, 2016
Davis kept this correspondence seperately from the other material relating to Opera News.
Box 1 Folder 9
Clippings from Opera News, 1983, 1986-1988, 1990, 1999-2000, 2002-2003, 2005, 2007, 2016
Contains a letter and other printed material relating to a 2003 story on Eleanor Steber ("Diva Manquée"), sent by an acquaintance of Steber.
Box 2 Folder 1-6
Complete issues of Opera News, 2003, 2005-2007, 6 folders
Box 3 Folder 1-6
Complete issues of Opera News, 2007-2009, 2013-2016, 2018, 6 folders
Box 4 Folder 1
Clippings from The Times of London, circa 1966-1975
Box 4 Folder 2-5
Complete issues of High Fidelity, 1967-1968, 1972-1976, 4 folders
Box 5 Folder 1-5
Clippings from New York magazine, 1981-1990, 5 folders
Box 6 Folder 1-8
Clippings from New York magazine, 1991-2007, 8 folders
Box 6 Folder 9
Material related to New York magazine's "Culture Issue", 2006
Box 7 Folder 1
Material related to Davis's dismissal from New York magazine, circa 2007
Contains newspaper clippings covering the dismissal, letters to Davis and to New York magazine regarding the dismissal, newspaper clippings related to the hiring of Justin Davidson, printouts from messageboards discussing the dismissal, and Davis's contract with the magazine.
Box 7 Folder 2-3
Complete issues of New York magazine, 1981, 1983-1985, 1990-1991, 1993, 1995, 2 folders
Interleaved in the 1995 issue is a draft of the "CNN Operas" article.
Box 7 Folder 4-6
Complete issues of Opus Magazine, 1984-1987, 3 folders
Box 7 Folder 7
Assorted clippings of reviews and articles, 1983-1984
Includes articles from Keynote, Connoisseur, Ovation, Opera News.
Box 8 Folder 1
Complete issues of the New York Times with front-page stories by Davis, 1976, 1979
Box 8 Folder 2
Clippings from the New York Times, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1982, 1984, 2007-2012
Includes a printout of a link to one of Davis's articles on Jonas Kaufmann's website; clippings from 1982 and 1984 are from the New York Times Book Review.
Box 8 Folder 3
Complete issues of print publications containing articles by Davis (Music and Musicians, Musical Newsletter, Gramophone, New York City Opera, Los Angeles Times Book Review, Yale Review), 1973, 1976, 1986, 1993, 1997
Box 8 Folder 4
Clippings of articles by Davis for High Fidelity, Opus, Connoisseur, Coda, San Francisco Opera, Opera Magazine, Cincinnati Opera, 1982-1984, 1986, 1990, 2000, 2008
Box 8 Folder 5
Complete issues of The Opera Journal, 1976
Box 8 Folder 6
Reviews sent in correspondence by Scott Parris, circa 2007-2012
From various publications, including The New York Times and Musical America.
Box 10 Folder 1
Clippings from Keynote Magazine, 1983
Box 10 Folder 2
Clippings from Ovation Magazine, 1984-1985
Contains a page of a comic strip that Davis filed with the material.
Box 10 Folder 3
Early reviews (Musical Letters, Musical America, Music Journal), 1963-1964
Box 10 Folder 4-5
Material relating to Musical America, circa 2006-2013, 2 folders
There is a funeral program for Olga Albizu in the 2009-2013 folder.
Box 11
New York Times bylines, circa 1971-1981, 1 boxes
These bylines have been housed in their original (labeled) packaging and placed in a Banker's Box. There are 11 individual parcels, labeled as follows: "Thru 1971"; "1971- April 1974"; "May-Dec 1974 + 1975"; "1976"; "1977"; "1978"; "1979"; "Jan-June 1980"; "July-Dec 1980"; "Jan-June 1981"; "July-Dec 1981."
Box 12 Folder 4
Correspondence regarding the New York Times, circa 1975-1981
Box 12 Folder 5-6
Correspondence received during employment at New York magazine, circa 1982-2007, 2 folders
Also includes clippings of articles, programs, contracts with New York Magazine and the BBC, a play by Ruth A. Gardner, a copy of Christa Ludwig's birth certificate, Curiculum Vitaes, other ephemera sent to Davis. Includes correspondence from the 2002 Pulitzer Prize Committee (includes annotated list of nominees). Includes correspondence with prominent gay activist Vito Russo. Includes correspondence from the following institutions: EMI, BMG Classics, Opera News, Seattle Opera, Metropolitan Opera Guild, Royal Opera House, Columbia Artists Management, 92nd St Y, Doubleday, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Rosa Ponselle Foundation, Central City Opera, the Richard Tucker Foundation, American Composers Orchestra, City University of New York.
Box 14
Ring-bound professional notebooks, circa 1970s-1980s, 1 boxes
23 ringbound notebooks containing draft material for reviews and feature stories, mostly for the New York Times.
Box 21 Item 40-42
Wordstar files of Davis's music column [likely for New York magazine], undated, 3 items
Box 21 Item 74
"Actors A-N"; Davis's music column [likely for New York magazine], undated, 1 items
Box 21 Item 76
"[illegible, possibly 'kettle' or 'rattle'] column", undated, 1 items
Presumably files relating to Davis's columns in a print publication.