Ryland Davis – born on February 9, 1943, in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, Wales – was an internationally renowned operatic tenor whose diverse repertoire focused on the works of Mozart. As a schoolboy, he focused on playing rugby up through his teen years before turning his attention to singing. He studied with Frederic Cox at the Royal Manchester College of Music, making his professional debut at the Welsh National Opera (Cardiff) in 1964. He continued his studies in Italy before becoming the first recipient of the John Christie Award at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1965. He continued a long career with the Glyndebourne Festival and appeared in many productions including Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (1966), Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (1968), Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte (1969), Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (1975), Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1981), Prokofiev’s L’Amour Des Trois Oranges (1982), Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (1997-2001), and others. Apart from the festival, he performed on many stages in England throughout his career including Sadler’s Wells Opera, the Royal Opera House, and the English National Opera. Ryland Davis also performed on international stages including the Paris Opéra, the San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, the Opéra national de Montpellier and at the Salzburg Festival in Austria. Beginning in the late 1980s, Ryland Davis became a teacher and held positions at the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester, England), the Royal College of Music (London, England), the Royal Academy of Music (London, England), and the Reina Sofia School of Music (Madrid, Spain). He appeared on many recordings throughout his career including Mozart: Requiem (1967), Mozart: Idomeneo (1967), Berlioz: Songs for Chorus (1969), Haydn: The Seasons (Highlights) (1970), Handel: Saul (1973), Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte (1974), Stravinsky: Pulcinella (1979), and Le Nozze Di Figaro K. 492 (2008). On November 5, 2023, Ryland Davies died from mesothelioma at the age of 80.
