IestynDavies
Representation
Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt
About Iestyn
An esteemed interpreter of Handel, Iestyn Davies begins the 24/25 season singing Didymus in Theodora at Teatro Real Madrid and with Music of the Baroque, Chicago; before delving into other works by the composer including David in Saul at the Glyndebourne Festival; Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno and Dixit Dominus with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Emmanuelle Haim, Messiah with les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie, and arias on tour with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Robin Ticciati.
In other repertoire, Iestyn will tour Monteverdi's Poppea with Cappella Mediterranea and Leonardo Garcia Alracon in Europe, and J.C. Bach, Scheidt, Schein, Buxtehude and more with Fretwork in the U.S. and Canada.
In recent seasons, he sang Bertarido in Rodelinda on tour in the U.S.A. and Asia with Harry Bicket and The English Concert, made his role debut at the Paris Opera as Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare, sang Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream with Atlanta Opera and at Garsington Opera, and the Boy in George Benjamin's Written on Skin with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In August, he made his Australian debut singing J.S. Bach and Arvo Pärt in an extensive solo tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
Iestyn appeared for a season on Broadway in a revival of his West-End theatre project Farinelli and the King with Mark Rylance, which received an Olivier Award nomination. Fascinated by blending traditional theatre with musical performance, Iestyn has also developed a new work with director Netia Jones, An Anatomy of Melancholy: an exploration of John Dowland’s impactful melodies and Robert Burton’s 17th-century treatise on the philosophy, scholarship, and cures for a melancholic affliction.
A celebrated recitalist with repertoire ranging from Dowland to Clapton, he has twice been awarded the Gramophone Recital Award. In 2017, he won the Gramophone Baroque Vocal Award and was awarded an MBE by the Queen for his services to Music.
Representation
Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt
Season Highlights
Video
Iestyn Davies performs Handel: Saul, HWV 53, Act I: "Oh Lord, Whose Mercies Numberless"
Credit: Warner Classics
PlayingIestyn Davies performs ‘Se fiera belva ha cinto’ from Handel’s Rodelinda
Credit: Nexie Aden
PlayingIestyn Davies performs 'Io t’abbraccio' from Handel's Rodelinda
Credit: Metropolitan Opera
PlayingIestyn Davies performs JC Bach’s Lamento “Ach, daß ich Wassers g’nug hätte” with Fretwork Viol Consort.
Credit: Fretwork Viol Consort
PlayingIestyn Davies performs ‘Erbarme Dich, mein Gott’ from JS Bach’s St Matthew Passion
Credit: Academy of Ancient Music
PlayingIestyn Davies performs an excerpt from Handel’s Messiah: Live from the Barbican
Credit: Academy of Ancient Music and the Barbican Centre
PlayingIestyn Davies performs 'Handel: Clori, Tirsi e Fileno HWV96' conducted by Harry Bicket
The English Concert conducted by Harry Bicket Credit: The English Concert
Playing
Selected Repertoire
| Adès | The Exterminating Angel (Francisco) • The Tempest (Trinculo) |
|---|---|
| Benjamin | Written on Skin (First Angel/Boy) |
| Britten | A Midsummer Night's Dream (Oberon) |
| Gluck | Orfeo ed Euridice (Orfeo) |
| Handel | Agrippina (Ottone) • Ariodante (Polinesso) • Cesare (Cesare, Tolomeo) • Jephtha (Hamor) • L'incoronazione di Poppea (Ottone) • Partenope (Arsace) • Rinaldo (title role) • Rodelinda (Bertarido) • Saul (David) • Semele (Athamas) • Theodora (Didymus) |
| Monteverdi | L'incoronazione di Poppea (Ottone) |
| Mozart | Mitridate, re di Ponto (Farnace) |
| Muhly | Marnie (Terry Rutland) |
| Vivaldi | Orlando Furioso (Ruggiero) |
Projects
An Anatomy of Melancholy
Netia Jones directs a Barbican London production, blending John Dowland's poignant music with Robert Burton's 17th-century treatise The Anatomy of Melancholy. This intimate meditation on sorrow features Iestyn Davies's crystalline voice and lutenist Sergio Bucheli. The performance, inspired by Burton, Freud, and modern emotion experts, combines visuals with Dowland's music. Currently developing international tours for 2025/2026 and beyond.
Learn about this projectProjects
An Anatomy of Melancholy
Netia Jones directs a Barbican London production, blending John Dowland's poignant music with Robert Burton's 17th-century treatise The Anatomy of Melancholy. This intimate meditation on sorrow features Iestyn Davies's crystalline voice and lutenist Sergio Bucheli. The performance, inspired by Burton, Freud, and modern emotion experts, combines visuals with Dowland's music. Currently developing international tours for 2025/2026 and beyond.
Learn about this project
News
Press
Silence and Rapture (Australian Chamber Orchestra & Sydney Dance Company)
City Recital Hall, SydneyAug 2024The participation of British countertenor Iestyn Davies introduced a third transcendent element. Davies, making his Australian debut, sang with pure, radiant expression and was a poignant presence as he moved with the dancers and around the stage. His account of a setting by Pärt of the Lord’s Prayer, in a version made specially for the ACO, was sublime.
- Deborah Jones, Limelight Arts
- 05 August 2024
Davies, making his much anticipated Australian debut, did not disappoint, his rich and beautiful tone swelling through the packed auditorium in the concert played straight through without applause until the end 70 minutes later. His rendition of the aria Embarme Dich from Bach’s St Matthew Passion was a time-stopping six minutes that will live long in the memory.
- Steve Moffatt, The Daily Telegraph
- 05 August 2024
But we haven’t even got to what was most remarkable about Silence & Rapture. English countertenor Iestyn Davies was guest artist in many of the items, which included movements from Bach cantatas and “Erbarme Dich” from the St Matthew Passion. Davies carries a formidable reputation, as early music followers will tell you, and there’s a reason. There’ve been many fine countertenors in recent years, but simply none finer than Davies. He is astonishing. Tone colour and diction perfectly converge, whether it is Baroque arias or songs of Pärt. With vocal chords that are particularly open and resonant, he is able to develop a sound that is both natural and well projected. Could “Erbarme Dich” or Pärt’s pulsating “My Heart in the Highlands” have sounded better? No. It was divinely beautiful – one wanted his every breath to last forever.
- Graham Strahle, InReview
- 13 August 2024
For opera and choral fans, British countertenor Iestyn Davies makes a striking Australian debut. Blessed with a rich, velvety lower register and an upper voice of soaring molten gold, Davies shines in the more lyrical, sensuous pieces where his sustained notes bloom like growing day break.
- John Shand, The Sydney Morning Herald
- 01 August 2024
