Owen Davies was brought up in London but has Welsh roots. He was raised on chapel hymns, Handel oratorios and Mozart arias. He began going to the theatre in the 1960s and, as a teenager, used to stand at the back of the Old Vic stalls to watch Olivier's National Theatre productions. He also saw many RSC productions at the Aldwych in the 1960s. At this time he also began to see operas at Covent Garden and developed a love for Mozart, Verdi, and Richard Strauss. After a career as a social worker and a trade union officer, Owen has retired from paid employment but as a 'mature student' he has recently gained a certificate in Opera Studies from Rose Bruford College.
This Welsh National Opera production of Don Giovanni has many merits - a fine orchestra, a bold design, some wonderful singing. It offers a convincin...
Marcio da Silva's groundbreaking company Ensemble Orquesta (EO) is fast developing an enviable reputation for bringing rare baroque treasures to the o...
Mozart's masterpiece, the Marriage of Figaro, is a work of such musical beauty and comic invention that it can always be counted on to charm an audien...
The pandemic has had many dreadful effects but there have been some unexpected glimmers of light. Young performers - starved of opportunities to perfo...
Madam Butterfly is one of the most performed operas today and yet one of the most difficult to stage in a way that feels right to modern audiences. It...
Barefoot Opera brought an unusual double bill to Grimeborn at the Arcola. They paired a shortened version of Gluck's Orfeo ed Eurydice with Zanetto, a...
This fascinating and challenging play by Winsome Pinnock starts from ideas stimulated by two paintings by JMW Turner. The first – 'The Slave Ship' – w...
As part of the splendid Grimeborn festival put on every summer by the Arcola, Marcio da Silva's Ensemble Orquestra has brought us an intriguing and in...
Hampstead Garden Opera has returned to the stage with a production of a rarely-performed baroque opera from 1643 by Francesco Cavalli. Hampstead Garde...
This gripping 60-minute monologue deals with the death in custody of a young black man. It's a strange mixture of comedy, tragedy, and righteous anger...
