Arthur Davies (tenor) facts for kids
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Arthur Davies (born April 11, 1941 – died August 8, 2018) was a talented Welsh tenor. A tenor is a male singer with a high vocal range. He was famous for performing in operas all over the world from the 1970s to the 1990s. He sang important roles with major opera companies like The Royal Opera in London and the Welsh National Opera.
Life and Career
Born in Wrexham, Wales, Arthur Davies studied at the Royal Northern College of Music. There, he learned from the famous tenor Joseph Ward.
His first professional opera performance was in 1972. He played the character Squeak in Benjamin Britten's opera Billy Budd at the Welsh National Opera (WNO). He performed many times for the WNO. Some of his roles included Count Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville and Don José in Bizet's Carmen. He also sang Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème.
In 1976, Davies made his first appearance at The Royal Opera in London. He performed in the very first show of Hans Werner Henze's We Come to the River. He returned to the Royal Opera for roles like Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata and Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
He also sang many roles for the English National Opera. These included Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni and the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto. He also played the main characters in Gounod's Faust and Massenet's Werther.
While Arthur Davies mostly performed in the United Kingdom, he also sang in other countries. In 1985, he made his first appearance in the United States. This was at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Don José. In 1990, he sang Faust at the Cincinnati Opera. He returned there in 1995 to play the main role in Giordano's Andrea Chénier.
He performed the role of Andrea Chénier in many places. These included the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and the Leipzig Opera. He also sang at the Municipal Theatre of Santiago in Chile. In 1994, he performed at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. In 1983, he sang Gerontius in Russia's first performance of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius.
From 1998 to 1999, Arthur Davies taught singing at the Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. Opera magazine noted his "easy, warmly communicative stage presence." They also mentioned his "ringingly lyrical tenor sound and excellent diction."
