Iestyn Davies
Countertenor Iestyn Davies is recognized for the power and versatility of his voice, with a repertoire extending from Baroque opera to contemporary works. He has made appearances in major Baroque roles in large opera houses in Europe and the U.S.
Davies was born on September 16, 1979, in York, England. His father was a noted cellist and encouraged his son's musical ambitions. Davies studied piano and recorder at first but switched to singing after a stint in the St. John's College Choir in Cambridge. He had some success as a solo boy soprano, appearing in a recording of Purcell's Timon of Athens (as Cupid) in the early '90s. After his voice broke, he experimented with tenor and bass parts but then mastered the countertenor voice in music classes at Wells Cathedral School. Davies studied archaeology and anthropology at St. John's College but then enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music for vocal studies and settled on a vocal career. From the start, his performances and recordings have included contemporary works as well as Baroque soprano and castrato repertory; in 2002, he sang on a Naxos recording of the Magnificat of William Walton.
By the mid-2000s, he was appearing internationally; a 2004 appearance in Handel's Messiah at the Lateran Basilica in Rome was widely noted, and two years later, he recorded the work for Naxos. Davies has made several more acclaimed recordings of Handel, as he has the power for the composer's full-scale soprano roles. Davies made his New York City Opera debut as Arsace in Handel's Partenope in 2010, and he has subsequently appeared at both the Metropolitan Opera in New York and Chicago's Lyric Opera. He also appeared on Broadway as the famed castrato Farinelli in the play Farinelli and the King in 2017. Davies has collaborated with top historical-performance specialist conductors, including Rinaldo Alessandrini, Alan Curtis, and John Eliot Gardiner. In 2017, he recorded the album Lost Is My Quiet, unconventionally applying the countertenor voice to songs by Mendelssohn and Schumann. He followed that up in 2019 with If on the Signum Classics label; the album joined works by contemporary composer Michael Nyman to works of Henry Purcell. That year, he was also heard on a live recording of Gluck's opera Orfeo ed Euridice with the group La Nuova Musica.
Davies remained active during the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing the Baroque recital Lamento on Signum Classics. He had a busy 2022, releasing a recording of Schubert's song cycle Die schöne Müllerin on Signum Classics, moving to Hyperion for an album of cantatas by Bach and Buxtehude with the early music group Arcangelo, and then joining soprano Lea Desandre and the ensemble Jupiter on Erato for the album Eternal Heaven: Handel. Davies was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2017.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Eternal Heaven
Thomas Dunford, Jupiter, Lea Desandre, Iestyn Davies
Classical - Lançado por Warner Classics em 18 de nov. de 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rolling River: American Choral
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, Graham Ross, Iestyn Davies
Choral Music (Choirs) - Lançado por harmonia mundi em 31 de mar. de 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Cantatas 54, 82 & 170 "Widerstehe", "Ich habe genug" & "Vergnügte Ruh"
Iestyn Davies, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Classical - Lançado por Hyperion em 30 de dez. de 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Arias for Guadagni: The First Modern Castrato
Iestyn Davies, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Classical - Lançado por Hyperion em 25 de mai. de 2012
Qobuzissime24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Cantatas 35 & 169 "Geist und Seele" & "Gott soll allein"
Iestyn Davies, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Classical - Lançado por Hyperion em 4 de fev. de 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Divine Music – An English Songbook
Iestyn Davies, Joseph Middleton
Chamber Music - Lançado por Signum Records em 28 de abr. de 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice, Wq. 30 [Live]
La Nuova Musica, Iestyn Davies, David Bates, Rebecca Bottone, Sophie Bevan
Opera - Lançado por PENTATONE em 1 de out. de 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Die Schöne Mullerin
Iestyn Davies, Joseph Middleton
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Lançado por Signum Records em 21 de jan. de 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Handel - Your tuneful voice
The King'S Consort, Iestyn Davies, Robert King
Classical - Lançado por VIVAT em 10 de fev. de 2014
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lamento
Chamber Music - Lançado por Signum Records em 27 de ago. de 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Elegy - Countertenor duets by Purcell and Blow
Iestyn Davies, James Hall, The King'S Consort, Robert King
Classical - Lançado por VIVAT em 27 de set. de 2019
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Flow My Tears - Songs For Lute, Viol and Voice - Wigmore Hall Live
Iestyn Davies, Thomas Dunford, Jonathan Manson
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Lançado por Wigmore Hall Live em 9 de fev. de 2015
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lost Is My Quiet
Iestyn Davies, Carolyn Sampson, Joseph Middleton
Classical - Lançado por BIS em 15 de set. de 2017
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ach dass ich Wassers g’nug hätte (Lamento)
Fretwork, Iestyn Davies, Silas Wollston
Chamber Music - Lançado por Signum Records em 28 de jul. de 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Die schöne Mullerin, Op. 25, D. 795: I. Das Wandern
Iestyn Davies, Joseph Middleton
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Lançado por Signum Records em 4 de jan. de 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Cantatas 35 & 169 "Geist und Seele" & "Gott soll allein"
Iestyn Davies, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Classical - Lançado por Hyperion em 4 de fev. de 2022
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
New-Made Tongue
Iestyn Davies, Joseph Middleton
Chamber Music - Lançado por Signum Records em 18 de abr. de 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Four Songs: No. 1, By Beauteous Softness (Arr. for Voice & Piano by Thomas Adès)
Iestyn Davies, Joseph Middleton
Chamber Music - Lançado por Signum Records em 5 de abr. de 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Salve mi Jesu
Fretwork, Iestyn Davies, Silas Wollston
Chamber Music - Lançado por Signum Records em 14 de jul. de 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice
David Bates, La Nuova Musica, Iestyn Davies, Sophie Bevan, Rebecca Bottone
Opera - Lançado por PENTATONE em 1 de out. de 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Arias for Guadagni: The First Modern Castrato
Iestyn Davies, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Classical - Lançado por Hyperion em 25 de mai. de 2012
QobuzissimeQualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo