Neal Davies

Neal Davies is among Britain's most prominent bass-baritone singers. His repertory extends into opera, choral music, and vocal music, from the Baroque era to the present day.

Davies was born in 1967 in Newport, Wales, near Cardiff, in the United Kingdom. At school there, he enjoyed singing <a href="spotify:artist:49hKlMJmzKgWWqgj505Vnv">Gilbert</a> & <a href="spotify:artist:1jK7F6jheJ08CowHGDW6IN">Sullivan</a> operetta, and he enrolled for music studies at King's College, London, and the Royal Academy of Music. Davies attracted the attention of the soprano <a href="spotify:artist:0AtMadeKoVSrmS6pXFObUU">Dame Gwyneth Jones</a>, who arranged for his further studies at the International Opera Studio in Zurich, Switzerland. He entered the Singer of the World Competition in Cardiff in 1991 and won the Lieder Prize. That might have been a big breakthrough, but instead, the 24-year-old departed for a two-and-a-half-year stint with the Coburg Opera in Germany; he later recalled that he gained confidence without pressure during those years. When he returned to Britain more seasoned, he found high-profile engagements there and in the U.S., where he resumed his <a href="spotify:artist:49hKlMJmzKgWWqgj505Vnv">Gilbert</a> & <a href="spotify:artist:1jK7F6jheJ08CowHGDW6IN">Sullivan</a> career with an appearance in The Pirates of Penzance at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He has made numerous appearances at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and the Edinburgh Festival. In concert, Davies has performed with historical-instruments groups, including <a href="spotify:artist:0JjlFfPu43HSIHEUP3zKvP">Les Violons du Roy</a>, as well as with traditional ensembles, including the <a href="spotify:artist:3Kc4x6BFeZVfx0mAgnDykn">Minnesota</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0jJszR81GjA87jeRq0Jgwz">Cleveland</a> Orchestras. Davies' repertory of concert works includes the Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, of Beethoven, <a href="spotify:artist:656RXuyw7CE0dtjdPgjJV6">Haydn</a>'s The Creation, and <a href="spotify:artist:6MF58APd3YV72Ln2eVg710">Mendelssohn</a>'s Elijah and Die erste Walpurgisnacht. His recital career has encompassed such high-profile venues as Wigmore Hall in London and the Liederhalle in Stuttgart, Germany.

In addition to appearances on opera and oratorio recordings, Davies has made several solo albums. In 2004, he was heard on a <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Naxos%22">Naxos</a> release devoted to songs of soprano-composer Liza Lehmann, and in 2020, he joined the <a href="spotify:artist:0VzwesVsEMjYDaMrrdukam">Hallé Orchestra</a> for a recording of Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel.