Iestyn Davies emerged as one of the country’s leading countertenors following his prize in the London Handel Singing Competition in 2004, only shortly after completing his studies at St John’s College, Cambridge as a choral scholar. He was immediately identified as an exciting operatic prospect, and his rôles soon included Ottone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (Zurich Opera with Harnoncourt), Corrado in Vivaldi’s Griselda (Ensemble Matheus with Spinosi), and Hamor in Handel’s Jephtha (Welsh National Opera). Engagements quickly extended to appearances with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra at Zellerbach Auditorium in Berkeley, rôles in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria for Welsh National Opera, and the p...