Biography:

Ryland Davies (9 February 1943 – 5 November 2023) was a Welsh operatic tenor who appeared internationally.

Ryland Davies was born in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, to Gethin Davies, a steelworker, and his wife Joan (nee Baker). He was a keen rugby player in his youth and at the age of 14 gained a schoolboys’ international cap for Wales against both England and Scotland in the 1957–58 season.^[1]

He studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music with Frederic Cox, who remained a lifelong friend.^[2] In 1964 made his professional debut, at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff as Almaviva in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.^[3] He won the John Christie Award of the Glyndebourne Festival in 1965.^[4][5]

During his active career he also sang important roles at the Royal Opera House, the Paris Opéra, San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. In September 1969, he appeared as Hylas in Les Troyens by Berlioz, conducted by Colin Davis, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.^[6]

Davies had a long career at the Glyndebourne Festival, where he began in the chorus in 1964, then sang supporting roles such as the Major domo in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss in 1965, a Sailor in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and two roles in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in 1966. From 1968, he had lead roles such as Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Belmonte in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin from 1975, Flamand in Capriccio by Strauss the following year, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte in 1980, Lysander in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream from 1981, the Prince in Prokofiev’s L’Amour des trois oranges from 1982, Tichon in Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová from 1988, Don Basilio in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro from 1997 to 2001, and Sellem in Britten’s The Rake’s Progress in 2000.^[4] In his prime, the music critic Alan Blyth considers, “he had a sweet-toned, lyrical voice and excellent diction.”^[7]

Davies recorded and performed under several major conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Sir Colin Davis, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Carlo Maria Giulini, Herbert von Karajan, Kirill Kondrashin, Sir Simon Rattle, and Mstislav Rostropovich.^[5]

He taught at the Royal Northern College of Music, the Royal College of Music, and the Royal Academy of Music.^[5] Notable students included Ian Bostridge, Jacques Imbrailo, David Butt Philip, Andrew Staples and Sam Furness.^[1]

He married mezzo-soprano Anne Howells in 1966; the marriage ended in divorce in 1981. He later married soprano Deborah Rees.^[1]

Davies died on 5 November 2023, at the age of 80.^[5][8]

Credits: