IestynDavies

Press

• Handel and Mozart with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe

  Berlin, Hamburg, Salzburg, Gstaad

  Jan 2025 - Feb 2025

  • Iestyn Davies is one of those hallowed few countertenors who can take a single note on a single syllable and spin it out into a long-breathed thing of immaculate beauty – shifting, modulating and shaped to tug at the heartstrings.

    • David Karlin, Bachtrack
    • 04 February 2025

  • The perfectly natural tone of countertenor Iestyn Davies combined with the equally delicate tone of the COE trumpet soloist, Neil Brough, to create the light over a world that will not end as long as there are people who can play and sing like that.

    • Heidemarie Klabacher, DrehPunktKultur
    • 03 February 2025

  • Davies does not celebrate his performances like a diva. For an aria from Handel's "Giulio Cesare in Egitto," he almost slithers in, wearing his slim-cut velvet jacket, the certainty of victory already on his face. With his elegant agility, followed by the spotlight, he spreads a James Bond flair. And he sings just as flexibly and agilely. His timbre has something of a dry white wine, it is bright and tart, which greatly benefits the comprehensibility of the text. He is visibly at home in the baroque musical language. It is a pleasure to see how inventive and stylistically confident he is in his ornamentation.

    • Verena Fischer-Zernin, Hamburger Abendblatt
    • 06 February 2025

  • ... how ... could the singer Iestyn Davies produce these intimate sounds from a standing start without a mediating introduction? At times it seems superhuman, superhumanly beautiful.

    • Matthias Nöther, Berliner Morgenpost
    • 29 January 2025

• A Midsummer Nights Dream

  Royal Albert Hall (BBC Proms)

  Sep 2024

  • Counter-tenor Iestyn Davies is no stranger to the role of Oberon, and his celesta-encrusted part was stunningly delivered, right from the off with ‘Well, go thy way’. Davies’ voice has just the right amount of otherworldliness. It has been full 13 years since I saw Davies as Oberon (at English National Opera, 2011, in a cast that included Sarah Tynan and Allan Clayton), and his stage presence has only grown, his immersion in the role only deepened – and back in 2011, that felt fully assimilated already. Vocally, he is faultless, but it is perhaps in his grasp of Britten’s phrase shapes and how best to present them in conjunction with the dramatic situations that impressed most

    • Colin Clarke, Opera Today
    • 18 September 2024

• Silence and Rapture (Australian Chamber Orchestra & Sydney Dance Company)

  City Recital Hall, Sydney

  Aug 2024

  • The 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

• Handel Orlando (title role)

  Barbican Hall

  Jun 2024

  • The countertenor voice is an otherworldly one, and his singing had an eeriness suited to the far side of the Styx.

    • Roy Westbrook, BachTrack
    • 01 July 2024

  • Davies’s Orlando exhibited utmost musical security and control, all the more impressive in that he sang most of it from memory. Razor-sharp coloratura in animated arias, and a seamless grasp of the shifting moods and visions which make up Handel’s remarkable sequence for his descent into madness at the end of Act Two, went hand in hand with his subtle but responsive gestures on stage to enact the part of the knight.

    • Curtis Rogers, Opera Today
    • 04 July 2024

• A Midsummer Night's Dream

  Garsington Opera

  Jun 2024

  • My opinion of the opera has been revised upwards by the magnificent performance now being presented at Garsington, in a production by Netia Jones, starring Iestyn Davies as Oberon and Lucy Crowe as Tytania. It runs until July 19 and if you are lucky you may be able to get tickets still. Davies has such a commanding stage presence that even those like me who struggle to enjoy the sound of the counter-tenor cannot but admire him. The entire cast display an enthusiasm and exuberance that it is hard to imagine could be surpassed.

    • Simon Heffer, The Telegraph
    • 24 June 2024

  • Those singers were mostly excellent. Davies is an experienced Oberon and he commanded the stage with his laser-like countertenor, projecting text with precision.

    • Mark Pullinger, Opera Now
    • 18 June 2024

• Handel Rodelinda Tour

  Carnegie Hall, New York

  Dec 2023

  • When Davies finally came onstage, he stopped the show with his delicate, heart-wrenching rendition of the aria “Dove sei?”... It was a startling performance. No less astonishing was Davies’ mathematical yet acrobatic singing, as expressive as it was exact

    • Anne E. Johnson, Classical Voice America
    • 12 December 2023

• Clori, Tirsi e Fileno

  Wigmore Hall, London

  Oct 2023 - Oct 2023

  • Davies, in contrast, was all soulful reflection and refinement: his final aria, Come la Rondinella dall’Egitto, with its beguiling theorbo solos, was very much a highlight.

    • Tim Ashley, Guardian
    • 19 October 2023

• Bach Cantatas

  Royal Albert Hall, London

  Aug 2023

  • Why Bach’s intimate music is perfect for the Royal Albert Hall. Britain's leading countertenor explains that the cantatas were actually written with huge audiences in mind

    • Iestyn Davies, The Telegraph
    • 24 August 2023

  • Few singers can match the exhilarating range of counter-tenor Iestyn Davies’ performances, whether it’s in the free-soaring clarity of his voice in rapid recitative-style

    • Rachel Halliburton, The Arts Desk
    • 26 August 2023

• Mitridate, re di Ponto (Farnace)

  Garsington Opera

  Jun 2023

  • the countertenor Iestyn Davies relishes his opportunities as the playboy prince and projects sculpted lines with glowing tone.

    • John Allison, The Telegraph
    • 02 June 2023

  • Iestyn Davies sings deliciously dastardly and petulant Farnace ... consistently musical, expressive, and characterful, turns louche Farnace from villain to hero.

    • Claudia Pritchard, Culture Whisperer
    • 02 June 2023

  • Countertenor Iestyn Davies’s Farnace is resplendent with supreme vocal purity.

    • Richard Fairman, The Financial Times
    • 02 June 2023

• Solomon

  Berliner Philharmonie

  Feb 2023

  • Iestyn Davies in der Titelrolle ist eine Sensation: Seine enorm klare und höhenstabile Altus-Stimme, an deren männlicher Charakteristik dennoch nie zu zweifeln ist, singt sich bis zum Schluss nicht ab und vermag aus der ewigen Weisheit und Gerechtigkeit dennoch immer neue gestalterische Nuancen zu ziehen. Iestyn Davies in the title role is a sensation: his enormously clear and high-pitched alto voice, whose masculine characteristics can never be doubted, does not fade away until the end and is nevertheless able to draw new creative nuances from the eternal wisdom and justice.

    • Peter Uehling, Berliner Zeitung
    • 27 February 2023

• An Anatomy of Melancholy Recital

  The Barbican, London

  Oct 2022

  • Iestyn Davies' tone ranges from subtle vibrato to pure liquid gold.

    • Richard Halliburton, The Arts Desk
    • 31 October 2022

  • Davies manages to deliver these soul-baring miniature masterpieces with unwavering expressive intensity and flawless vocal technique.

    • Richard Morrison, The Times
    • 28 October 2023

  • Nobody articulated the essence of melancholy better than John Dowland, and nobody could give it more eloquent voice than countertenor Iestyn Davies.

    • Barry Millington, Evening Standard
    • 28 October 2022

• Counter tenor duets with Hugh Cutting

  Wigmore Hall, London

  Sep 2022

  • Davies made the flowing melismas of Monteverdi’s ‘Ego flos campi’ as smooth as silk, and he used the low register of the vocal line to wonderfully balance the mystical quality of the text with the suggestion of physical ecstasy. Davies’ phrasing was stunning, a simple falling gesture breathtaking in its beauty and emotive impact. This was a gorgeous recital, vibrantly emotive and musically uplifting.

    • Claire Seymour, Opera Today
    • 22 September 2022

• Bach B Minor Mass

  Royal Albert Hall, London

  Aug 2022

  • Of the soloists, countertenor Iestyn Davies was in a league of his own, though. How does he do it, time and time again? The fulsome beauty of his tone, particularly in the upper regions; the effortless projection; the nuanced shading, without mannerism, of every phrase. It’s simply stunning. I held my breath through both the ‘Qui sedes’ and the ‘Agnus Dei’. One listener to the radio broadcast remarked to me that they were put in mind of Chaucer’s description of the Pardoner who makes his voice ‘rynge [it] out as round as gooth a belle’ – though one would add that Davies soars with sweetness and sincerity not subterfuge and sinfulness. The long phrases of ‘Qui sedes’ were beautifully creamy without being affected, and were lovingly complemented by oboist Katharina Spreckelsen. No deity could surely deny this prayer for mercy. Davies’s duet with Redmond, ‘Et in unum Dominum’, was nimble but certainly not light-weight, and there was some lovely string playing here, varied articulations used to expressive effect. The opening note of the ‘Agnus Dei’ was so effortlessly placed it seemed that it must have been ringing in the celestial ether, waiting to be sounded in earthly realms. The richness of Davies’s lower register was beautifully communicative here. I’m not sure if it’s ‘right’ to hear both spirituality and sensuality in this aria, but Davies’s singing was manifold and heart-touching in its expressiveness. The Hall was silent, still, rapt.

    • Claire Seymour, Opera Today
    • 30 August 2022

  • With the Qui sedes, counter-tenor Iestyn Davies instantly hit his mellifluous yet powerful stride: velvet and steel combined, utterly in control across the range but especially commanding at the faultless top, well supported by Butt’s firmly fluent tempi.

    • Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk
    • 30 August 2022

• Saul (David)

  Edinburgh International Festival

  Aug 2022

  • Davies uses his countertenor like a precision instrument, dazzling up and down the scale in his coloratura, but creating the most bewitching, almost erotic sound in his slower music.

    • Simon Thompson, The Arts Desk
    • 26 August 2022

  • And then there was Iestyn. His voice is incredible – the range, the power, the passion, the searing intensity that has the whole auditorium ringing with plangent lament or soaring joy – he is simply unsurpassed in music of this period.

    • Brett Herriot, ScotsGay Arts
    • 26 August 2022

  • Iestyn Davies filled the hall with pure sound, poise, the highest quality musicality, and simply consistent brilliance. It was a privilege to hear this singing. There were so many highlights, but if forced to choose, David’s soulful entreaty, ‘Brave Jonathan, his bow ne’er drew’, was exquisite, as was the balance and sheer elegance of David and Michal’s duet, ‘O fairest of ten thousand fair’.

    • Fraser Grant, Musical Theatre Review
    • 28 August 2022

• Solomon

  Royal Albert Hall, London

  Aug 2022

  • Iestyn Davies made a profoundly beautiful Solomon, singing everything with gorgeous tone and lovely phrasing. His manner was perhaps, slightly cool, but he seduced with his voice giving us plenty of superbly shaped music. This counted for a lot not just in the arias and ensembles, but in the recitatives and Solomon has a number of accompanied ones and Davies' really made these count. But we also see Solomon through his interactions with the four women in the work.

    • Robert Hugill, Planet Hugill
    • 20 August 2022

  • Iestyn Davies’s regal, assured and deeply expressive counter-tenor commanded from first note to last as the sage monarch. Davies’s Solomon showed such a warm, relaxed mastery across his range that bathos never threatened.

    • Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk
    • 20 August 2022

  • Iestyn Davies’s pure, incisive performance gave the title role a composed, rarefied dignity, if not particularly a multi-dimensional personality.

    • Curtis Rogers, Colins Columns
    • 20 August 2022

  • Iestyn Davies, but his countertenor has more than enough bloom and richness to equal the ripest mezzo, and his easeful projection and coloristic nuance was especially noticeable in the recitatives which had a flowing naturalness. He was perhaps more persuasive in the arias of absorbed introspectiveness and spiritual wisdom, than in the more amorous numbers, though. ‘What though I trace each herb and flow’r?’ had a lovely inwardness and calm, and Davies’ attention to detail, aided by a superlative technique, was apparent in the ornaments which graced the broadening then flowering phrase, “Did I not own Jehovah’s pow’r/ How vain were all I knew”, and in the beautiful decorations of the da capo which paradoxically evoked the pedantry, vanity and boastfulness that Solomon here rejects. The easeful ringing roundness of Davies’ tone never ceases to impress and amaze. The Act 3 Cecilian sequence on the power of music displayed all of Davies’ musical intelligence and artistry.

    • Claire Seymour, Opera Today
    • 20 August 2022

• Rodelinda (Bertarido)

  Metropolitan Opera, New York

  Mar 2022

  • "Only the countertenor Iestyn Davies’s mellow voice, with the floating warmth of thin cashmere, truly seduced.

    • Zachary Woolfe, New York Times
    • 16 March 2022

  • Davies possesses a voice of remarkable beauty and nuance. It is rare to find a voice so unified and balanced. His coloratura was fluid and precise, his interpretation sensitive and sophisticated... the sheer beauty of his instrument made every moment worth the listen. His interpretation of Bertarido's Act one aria 'Dove sei?' was a stunning introduction to a character and a singer I loved to encounter again and again. He carried well over the orchestra, a common issue with countertenors, even out-singing the soprano lead in the beloved duet that ends Act two.

    • M. Thaddius Banks, OperaWire
    • 14 March 2022

  • Friday night he was just as superb... In 'Dove sei,' he let his sound and color grow and develop in an organic way, not just a crescendo but a modulation of quality. His was the most emotionally palpable singing of the night, and throughout the performance, his characterization was so expressive and natural that he disappeared into the part. In a night when all the music-making was excellent, he and Bicket seemed to share an effortless communication.

    • George Grella, New York Classical Review
    • 12 March 2022

• Partenope (Arsace)

  Teatro Real Madrid

  Nov 2021

  • Quien canta estas dos arias del sueño es Iestyn Davies, Armindo en Londres en 2008 y Arsace ahora en Madrid, donde se convierte, sin duda, en el cantante más destacado de la representación. No es solo el que mejor conoce el lenguaje barroco, el que lleva impreso en su piel el estilo de Handel, sino también el intérprete con mejor técnica y proyección vocal, dicción más clara y mayor inteligencia escénica. Domina por igual todos los registros: al final del segundo acto, su “Furibondo spira il vento” es un alarde de virtuosismo y precisión (es un gran acierto por parte de Alden hacer despertarse de golpe a Parténope en el preciso momento en que amaina el vendaval de agilidades de su pretendiente); al comienzo del tercero, su “Ch’io parta?” es apenas un susurro que irradia musicalidad y expresividad en cada nota, al igual que la citada “Ma quai note di mesti lamenti”, donde hace perfectamente creíbles su desolación, angustia y desamparo. Iestyn Davies is, without doubt, the most outstanding singer of the production. He is not only the one who knows the Baroque language best, the one who has Handel's style imprinted on his skin, but also the interpreter with the best technique and vocal projection, clearest diction and greatest stage intelligence. He dominates all the registers equally: at the end of the second act, his "Furibondo spira il vento" is a display of virtuosity and precision ... at the beginning of the third act, his "Ch'io parta?" is just a whisper that radiates musicality and expressiveness in each note, as is the aforementioned "Ma quai note di mesti lamenti", where he makes his desolation, anguish and helplessness perfectly credible.

    • Luis Gago, El País
    • 14 November 2021

• Best British Singers: 10 greatest of all time

  • He's enjoyed a high-flying career ever since, owing to the silky, sophisticated beauty of his countertenor voice.

    • Classical Music by BBC Music Magazine
    • 01 December 2023

• Guilio Cesare

  Opéra National de Paris

  Jan 2024

  • Tolomeo is performed by the counter-tenor Iestyn Davies, very in shape scenically and vocally, for his debut at the Paris opera. He shows a quite sensational agility in his tunes S"i spietata, il tuo rigore" and ""Domerò la tua fierezza.

    • Classique News
    • 24 January 2024