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Ben Davies (6 January 1858 – 28 March 1943) was a Welsh tenor singer, who appeared in opera with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, in operetta and light opera, and on the concert and oratorio platform. He was spoken of as a successor of Edward Lloyd, as a leading British tenor, and retained something of his style and repertoire in concert performance. == Training and operatic career, 1881–1891 == Ben Davies was born in Pontardawe, Wales. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London under Alberto Randegger and Signor Fiori.〔A. Eaglefield-Hull, ''A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians'' (Dent, London 1924).〕 He made his debut in 1881 in Michael Balfe's ''The Bohemian Girl'', and in the following ten years devoted himself principally to the operatic stage. In 1883 he created the role of Gringoire in Arthur Goring Thomas's ''Esmeralda'', in the first Carl Rosa season at Drury Lane Theatre: his future wife Clara Perry was in the cast as Fleur-de-lys.〔H. Klein, ''Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870–1900'' (Century, New York 1903), 142.〕 In that time he began to assume the mantle of Edward Lloyd, as the leading British operatic tenor. In 1887 he played Geoffrey Wilder in Alfred Cellier's ''Dorothy'', one of his most successful roles, in the re-casting opposite Marie Tempest ('Mr Davies also has a capital song, ''A Guinea here, a guinea there'', which he sang with his eyes shut, but otherwise admirably.');〔Corno di Bassetto, ''London Music in 1888–1889'' (Constable, London 1937), 255–56.〕 in 1889 he took the lead in the sequel, ''Doris'',〔H. Coffin, ''Hayden Coffin's Book'' (Alston Rivers, London, 1930), 63, 73.〕 and later that year he starred as Ralph Rodney in ''The Red Hussar''. He was chosen by Sir Arthur Sullivan to create the title role in the opera ''Ivanhoe'' in January 1891, at the opening of the Royal English Opera House (Palace Theatre) – Shaw called him 'a robust and eupeptic Ivanhoe', who 'gets beaten because he is obviously some three stone over his proper fighting weight': and 'his obstreporous self-satisfaction put everybody into good humour.'〔G.B. Shaw, ''Music in London 1890–94'' (Constable, London 1932), 122.〕 In November 1891 he created the tenor lead in the London production of André Messager's ''La Basoche'' (also at the Royal English Opera House), in which the basso David Bispham made his stage debut, as Duc de Longueville.〔D. Bispham, ''A Quaker Singer's recollections'' (Macmillan, New York 1920), 100.〕 Shaw remarked,
In 1892 Davies made his Covent Garden debut in Gounod's ''Faust''. (His 'Salve, dimora casta e pura' from that opera was recorded.) In 1893 he appeared in Frederick Cowen's ''Signa'' there, sung in Italian, with Mme de Nuovina and the baritone Mario Ancona, under Cowen's baton.〔M. Scott, ''The Record of Singing I'' (Duckworth, London 1977), 50; Klein 1903, 401.〕 'Mr Ben Davies made almost the only hit of the opera by his singing of a song in the first act, which was the most effective number in the work as it stood; but his success would have been greater if a somewhat smarter physical training had made him less obviously a popular and liberally fed London concert singer.'〔Shaw 1932, iii, 262.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ben Davies (tenor)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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