| Biography | Welsh bass-baritone Neal Davies made his Royal Opera debut in 1997, singing Satyr (Platée) at the Barbican in a production with the Mark Morris Dance Group. He went on to sing Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) with The Royal Opera at Shaftesbury Theatre in 1998 and has since returned to sing Alaska Wolf Joe (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) for The Royal Opera on the main stage.
Davies studied at Kings College, Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Music and the International Opera Studio in Zürich. Awards early in his career include the Lieder Prize at the 1991 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. He performs regularly for Welsh National Opera, where his roles include Zebul (Jephtha), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Guglielmo and Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Dulcamara (Lelisir damore) and Sharpless (Madama Butterfly). Other appearances include Pallante (Agrippina) for Berlin State Opera, Ko-Ko (The Mikado) for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bottom (A Midsummer Nights Dream) for Garsington Opera and Ariodates (Xerxes) and Dr Kolenaty (The Makropulos Case) for English National Opera.
Davies is renowned for his interpretations of baroque repertory and works regularly with leading period ensembles. Engagements include Saul (Charpentiers David et Jonathas) in Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh and New York with Les Arts Florissants, Handels Belshazzar in Aix-en-Provence, Berlin and Innsbruck under René Jacobs, Valens (Theodora) with Les Arts Florissants in Paris and Salzburg and on tour with The English Concert and Handels Athalia with Concerto Koeln. |