Jennifer Rhys-Davies - soprano
"As the formidable Lady Billows and her housekeeper, Florence Pike, Jennifer Rhys-Davies and Rosie Aldridge were a gloriously well-matched double act." Albert Herring, ETO - Opera Magazine, December 2012
"Christopher Rolls bring the prudish caricatures of Loxford vividly to life with a formidable Jennifer Rhys-Davies as Lady Billows..." Albert Herring, ETO -Sunday Times, October 2012
"..a splendid supporting cast including....Jennifer Rhys-Davies." Der Rosenkavalier, ENO - Telegraph, February 2012
"Jennifer Rhys-Davies made the most of Marianne Leitmetzerin, Sophie’s chaperone, including a resounding high C, and much funny mugging during her charge’s unbuttoned entretien with Octavian." Der Rosenkavalier, ENO - Opera Britannia, February 2012
"ENO assembled a terrific cast...the vocal and histronic star of the show was Jennifer Rhys-Davies's Hilde Mack, a performance of astonishing vocal virtuosity and psychological insight." Elegy for Young Lovers, ENO - Opera Magazine, June 2010
"...there is the widow Hilda Mack (the imperious Jennifer Rhys-Davies in shining voice), who is prone to coloratura flights and to hallucinatory visions that inspire Mittenhofer’s poetic imagination..." Elegy for Young Lovers, ENO - New York Times, May 2010
"Rhys-Davies, as the visionary Hilde Mack, seizes her Donizetti-inspired coloratura with skill and panache." Elegy for Young Lovers, ENO - Observer, May 2010
"A first-rate cast was led by Steven Page...with the splendidly virtuosic Jennifer Rhys-Davies stealing the show as the camp figure of Hilda." Elegy for Young Lovers, ENO - Telegraph, April 2010
"The only one to escape from the poet’s clutches is a widow (a stratospheric coloratura part, feistily delivered by Jennifer Rhys-Davies)." Elegy for Young Lovers, ENO - The Times, April 2010
"The immediacy, the urgency and heat of inspiration (or the lack of it), are beautifully caught in each imperative moment of the show....the crazed coloratura of Jennifer Rhys-Davies’ indomitable Hilda which grows more preposterous as she grows more lucid.." Elegy for Young Lovers, ENO - Independent, April 2010
"Jennifer Rhys-Davies steals several scenes as Hilde Mack, Mittenhofer’s elderly muse, whose tragically inspired visions cease when she regains her sanity." Elegy for Young Lovers, ENO - The Stage, April 2010
"Jennifer Rhys-Davies's wonderful Berta......(she) made every note count in Berta's 'Il vecchietto', a masterpiece of tipsy comic timing." Il barbiere di Siviglia, ROH - Opera Magazine, September 2009
"...a vintage cast of experienced Brittenites - ....Jennifer Rhys-Davies as his neurotic would-be mother-in-law - give excellent support..." Mrs Julian, Owen Wingrave, ROH - Sunday Times, 2007
“Director James Conway is fortunate in having Anne Mason and Jennifer Rhys-Davies. Both sensitively sing off words…Rhys-Davies encompassing Elizabeth’s wide-ranging ‘fioriture’ with meaningful ease. The highly charged meeting of the two is hair-raising.” Elizabeth, Maria Stuarda, ETO - The Stage, 2005
“….the two leads turn in a pair of exceptionally powerful performances: characterisation through singing is everything. The odds are against the success of this new ETO repertoire – but it is dynamite.”
Elizabeth, Maria Stuarda, ETO - The Times, 2005
“It’s success is due partly to director James Conway, partly to two exceptional central performances…the rival queens are both profoundly tragic, complex figures..” Elizabeth, Maria Stuarda, ETO – The Guardian, 2005
“Jennifer Rhys-Davies…hurled herself at the high notes with success and spun the long lines as well as the tricky runs with considerable aplomb. She also presented a striking Elizabeth visually: proud, passionate, and determined.”
Elizabeth, Maria Stuarda, ETO – Opera Magazine, 2005
“Their singing though kept my attention…Rhys-Davies deployed the pyrotechnics with some aplomb, dispatching her fury rashly (and quite excitingly) above the stave.” Elizabeth, Maria Stuarda, ETO - The Independent, 2005
“…starring two of Britain’s most underused divas….sparks really fly in their encounter at Fotheringay Park…it’s an electrifying scene.”
Elizabeth, Maria Stuarda, ETO - The Sunday Times, 2005