In 1982, he received a position on the musical staff of the English National Opera, remaining there until 1987. In the late 1980s, he was Musical Director of a number of amateur choirs, including Wokingham Choral Society, often featuring his future wife, the sopranoJoan Rodgers. From 1987 to 1990, he was music director of Opera Factory. From 1990 to 1997, he was Musical Director of Opera North and Principal Conductor of the English Northern Philharmonia. He attracted attention for his work in neglected operas and newer repertory. The former included Dukas' Ariane et Barbe-bleue, Tippett's King Priam, Franz Schreker's Der Ferne Klang, Korngold's Violanta, and Britten's Gloriana. He conducted Opera North in its 1992 debut at The Proms with Boris Godunov. The latter included conducting the world premieres of Michael Berkeley's Baa, Baa, Black Sheep and Benedict Mason's Playing Away, which was premiered at the Munich Biennale and won awards for best production and design. He became Music Director of English National Opera in September 1997 He encountered difficulty early in his tenure at ENO, with the departure of Dennis Marks as ENO's general director about a month after Daniel's own arrival. This forced Daniel unexpectedly to assume a more public role as the artistic face of the organization, until the arrival of Nicholas Payne as general director. One analysis of this situation was that this additional work distracted Daniel from developing a fuller rapport with the orchestra. In December 2003, Daniel announced his resignation from ENO at the end of his contract in 2005. In addition, towards the later part of his tenure, there were reports of clashes between Daniel and ENO artistic director Sean Doran. He expressed concerns about the future of ENO in an April 2005 interview with The Guardian, which led to ENO's Director of Marketing, Ian McKay, booing Daniel at the conductor's last performance as ENO music director. His work at ENO included the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's The Silver Tassie, which ENO and Daniel recorded for commercial release. Daniel first guest-conducted the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in 1995, and returned in April 2006. In May 2007, he was named the WASO's next Principal Conductor, effective as of January 2009, with an initial contract through December 2011. In November 2010, the WASO announced the extension of Daniel's contract as principal conductor through December 2013, at which time he concluded his WASO tenure. Daniel became principal guest conductor of the Real Filharmonía de Galicia in 2007. In January 2012, he was named the orchestra's next principal conductor and artistic adviser, as of January 2013, with an initial contract of 3 years. In July 2012, the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine announced the appointment of Daniel as its next music director, effective with the 2013–2014 season. He had previously guest-conducted the ONBA in 2006 and 2011. In May 2017, the ONBA announced the extension of Daniel's contract through 2021. His honours include receiving an Olivier Award in February 1998 for outstanding achievement in opera, and a Gramophone Award in 1999 for his English music series on Naxos Records. He was awarded the CBE in the 2000 New Year’s Honours list. In September 2005, Daniel conducted the Last Night of the Promsfor the first time. Daniel has two daughters from his past marriage to opera singer Joan Rodgers. The marriage ended in divorce; Rodgers married Alan Samson in 2013. Daniel's commercial recordings, which include performances with Rodgers, are featured on a number of record labels, including Chandos, Naxos, Linn, and Aeon.
