Born Cymmer, 12 November 1892.
Died London, 2 April 1958.
Welsh tenor.
Tudor Davies joined BNOC as a light lyric tenor when its first season began in 1922. He remained a member of the company until it closed in 1928. Reviews during those early years reveal him to have been the near-ideal romantic lead in much of the standard repertoire, with a clear, lyrical voice allied to a handsome stage presence and rare acting ability.
While he was always admired as a good actor, it is noticeable that by 1928 when he was beginning to sing more dramatic roles, such as Don José, Canio and Manrico, critics were already commenting on the strained sound of his singing (or that the voice was too light, as when he sang Walther von Stolzing). This continued to be a problem as he took on parts including Turiddu, Don Carlos and Lohengrin.
His debut at Covent Garden was as a member of BNOC (Rodolfo 1924). In 1928 he went to the USA, singing Lohengrin at Philadelphia.
After the demise of BNOC, he worked steadily with Lilian Baylis's company at the Old Vic then at Sadler's Wells (1931-41). He toured with Carl Rosa (1941-46).
He created four parts with BNOC - Lover Fête galante (Smyth 1923); Title role Hugh the Drover (Vaughan Williams 1924); Prince Hal At the Boar's Head (Holst 1925) and Cornelis The Leper's Flute (Bryson 1926). None of these works survives in the regular repertory, though the first three have all been recorded in recent years and have impressive sections.
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