Iestyn Davies in Australia

Interview - 14 August, 2024

CONTEXT

Iestyn Davies performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra's tour, Silence and Rapture

Composing three centuries apart, Johann Sebastian Bach and Arvo Pärt’s timeless music speaks to the human soul. From rockstars and writers to artists and filmmakers, these composers are revered by music lovers across genres and generations.

Expressing the luminous longing at the heart of this music is choreography from Rafael Bonachela, Artistic Director Sydney Dance Company, while Gramophone Award-winning countertenor Iestyn Davies, whose performances have been described as “a pleasure that verges on the sublime” (The Guardian) makes his Australian debut, bringing these stirring melodies to life.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

This is a seamless programme of music and dance in a collaboration between myself, ACO and the Sydney Dance Company that takes the audience on a journey somewhat of darkness to light. You should expect to be moved and hopefully leave the hall feeling replenished and invigorated! The music is all utterly beautiful and the dance throughout adds a layer of interpretation that I think opens the audience's ears to what they are listening to.

Actually, I've only ever sung Arvo Pärt’s My Heart's in the Highlands' before and that's on a new recording of a very special arrangement for the viol consort Fretwork. It should be out next year I expect. That said, I knew of a couple of other pieces he had composed for countertenor and we perform one of them alongside the one mentioned above in this programme.

Photo by Daniel Boud

ABOUT APPROACHING MUSIC THREE CENTURIES APART IN ONE PROGRAM

So much of my repertoire spans the centuries so this is arguably something I am used to doing all the time. Personally, good music doesn't feel restricted by its age; so often countertenors who sing a lot of C18th repertoire are bracketed as 'early music singers' and I really hate this association, as if somehow I adjust my technique to suit the music. Likewise, good and healthy singing, and more importantly, musical singing and expressivity are human skills no matter which century one lives in. Bach and Pärt therefore, as human beings, connect on this level at an extremely high level. My job is not to try and tell you all about their 'language' but rather to be a conduit through which their music is expressed in an emotionally charged and technically sufficient manner so as to meet the audience somewhere in the unknown ether of the live concert. I'm not interested in the performance being anything other than ephemeral. I doubt the audience want or need to hear how a piece 'works'.

"Something I've been looking forward to for some time is connecting with friends who have moved over to Australia. And I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited about the potential to drink the best made coffees in the world. So far so good..."

Image provided by Artist