RIP Jennifer Rhys-Davies
OWM is sorry to have to share the news that the Welsh soprano, Jennifer Rhys-Davies, passed away in the early hours of Sunday 8 March. Some of her most memorable roles include Queen of the Night, Marcellina, Elettra Idomeneo, Elisabetta Maria Stuarda, Hilda Mack Elegy for Young Lovers and Lady Billows Albert Herring. She first sang Berta at the Royal Opera House in 1993 and in recent years she returned to the role in acclaimed productions by Jean-Françoise Sivadier which she performed in five French opera houses, and by Stephen Barlow at the Grange Festival. She also sang this role in Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s famous production at the Royal Opera House alongside Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez – a live recording from 2009 is available on DVD. Our sympathy is with her family at this sad time.
“It was, however, Jennifer Rhys-Davies as Berta who stole every scene in which she appeared…her “Il vecchiotto cerca moglie” was a masterpiece of comic showmanship…” Il barbiere di Siviglia, The Grange Festival, backtrack, June 2018
“…the vocal and histrionic star of the show was Jennifer Rhys-Davies’s Hilde Mack, a performance of astonishing vocal virtuosity and psychological insight.” Elegy for Young Lovers, English National Opera – Opera Magazine, June 2010