Ryland Davies
Welsh tenor Ryland Davies was born in the village of Cwm, Ebbw Vale on 9 February 1943. Whilst studying with Frederic Cox at the Royal Manchester College of Music he sang Paris in Gluck's Paride ed Elena in Manchester, later making his professional debut in 1964 as Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville at Welsh National Opera in Cardiff.
He had a long career at the Glyndebourne Festival, beginning by singing in the chorus from 1964, then singing supporting roles and then, from 1968, appearing in leading roles.
He also sang in Berlin and at Chicago Lyric Opera, English National Opera, Hamburg State Opera, New York Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opéra, the Royal Opera House in London, at Sadler's Wells Opera in both Lisbon and London, at the Salzburg Festival, San Francisco Opera and Scottish Opera.
His expertise was in Mozart, and also sang roles in Britten, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi operas.
He also taught at the Royal Northern College of Music, at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music (both in London), and at Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid. His students included Ian Bostridge, Sam Furness, Jacques Imbrailo, Stuart Jackson, Robert Murray, David Butt Philip and Andrew Staples.
Ryland Davies died from mesothelioma on 5 November 2023, aged eighty.
A selection of articles about Ryland Davies
Classical music news - November 2023 Obituaries - Our summary of those the classical music world has lost this month
Classical music news - Juliane Banse - The German soprano will be the new head professor of voice at Madrid's Reina Sofía School of Music for 2023-24
Ensemble. A terrific evening - 'Dialogues des Carmélites' at English National Opera, reviewed by Robert Hugill