...the superb countertenor Iestyn Davies...Mr. Phan and Mr. Davies brought out the best in each other during the wistfully beautifully duet “Et misericordia” from the Bach Magnificat, one of the high points of the fresh, stylistically insightful performance... Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, 7th March 2013

Iestyn Davies (a deft countertenor) Martin Bernheimer, Financial Times, 7th March 2013

Another countertenor, Iestyn Davies, making his debut in the role of Unulfo, almost walks away with the show. The voice is utterly smooth, his agility remarkable and he dazzles in his Act 2 showpiece, 'Fra tempest funeste'. Robert Levine, International Record Review, January 2013

...Iestyn Davies’s performance was, as usual with that amazing singer, beautiful and compelling beyond words.

Michael Church, The Independent, 14th December 2012

Please click below to view Laura Battle's review in the Financial Times.

Laura Battle, Financial Times, 28th November 2012

...countertenor Iestyn Davies was a stand-out turn in the smaller part of Trinculo.

Tom Service, The Guardian, 26th October 2012

Iestyn Davies had fun with the buffa parts of... Trinculo; it’s a nice touch to make Trinculo, a clownlike outsider, a countertenor. 

Anne Midgette, The Washington Post, 24th October 2012

Iestyn Davies as Trinculo...amuse in their drunken exploits.

Ronni Reich, New Jersey Star Ledger, 25th October 2012

More standouts were countertenor Iestyn Davies, bright-voiced and droll as the drunken jester Trinculo...

James Jorden, New York Post, 25th October 2012

Nothing, however, could match the pure, unaffected simplicity of countertenor Iestyn Davies in the Agnus Dei. It was as good as you are likely to hear, ever.

Fiona Maddocks, The Observer, 5th August 2012

There was some superb duet work, but when counter-tenor Iestyn Davies sang his solos, his extraordinary tonal richness and imaginative phrasing combined into something truly unforgettable.

George Hall, The Guardian, 3rd August 2012

When, very near the end, that supreme young countertenor Iestyn Davies sang the "Agnus Dei" with such sublime, moving eloquence, it set the seal on an interpretation that had been conceived not only with the utmost care but with a depth of human feeling that was wholly enveloping.

Geoffrey Norris, The Telegraph, 3rd August 2012.

...while counter-tenor Iestyn Davies was his usual peerless self, sending his big sound up to the gods with effortless grace. 

Michael Church, The Independent, 3rd August 2012

...while Iestyn Davies's Agnus Dei was unforgettable: a point of stillness amid the beating wings...

Anna Picard, The Independent, 5th August 2012

...an imaginative, consummately sung programme from the brightest star among young British countertenors.

Richard Wigmore, Gramophone, August 2012

...Throughout his effortless line, countertenor Iestyn Davies revivifies Guadagni's Orphic powers. He is particularly breathtaking in works by Handel, Arne and John C Smith, all of which are designed to show off the castrato's pellucid timbre...

Berta Joncus, BBC Music Magazine, August 2012

Gaetano Guadagni was the 18th-century Italian castrato who came to London, learnt to sing opera from Handel and to act from Garrick, then went to Vienna where Gluck created his Orfeo for him. Iestyn Davies, the British counter-tenor, travels that journey via Hasse, John Christopher Smith and Thomas Arne. By all account Guadagni put tonal beauty and dramatic insight before vocal display and Davies's unforced timbre, exemplary intonation and sense of style brings out the nobility of the music he inspired. Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen's ensemble, also rises to C.P.E. Bach's stunning Symphony in D.

Richard Morrison, The Times, 7th July 2012

...this fine, beautifully sung programme by the countertenor Iestyn Davies. If Guadagni was noted for the delicacy of his phrasing and the richness of character in his voice, Davies fully emulates him in these performances of arais by Handel, Hasse and Arne, with defining interpretations of extracts from Gluck's Orfeo and an eloquently poised aria by Guadagni himself. Arcangelo lends exquisite instrumental support.

Geoffrey Norris, The Daily Telegraph, 23rd June 2012

Davies gives us the latter’s lovely “The raptur’d soul”, but cheats by including David’s ravishing “O Lord, whose mercies numberless”, from Saul, and Cyrus’s bravura show stopper, Destructive War, from Belshazzar, written for others, but sung by Guadagni in revivals. Davies sings them superlatively well.

Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, 27 May 2012

Guadagni's early distrust of virtuosity was a matter of aesthetics rather than technique, and Davies includes some of the showstoppers written for him by Handel and Arne, delivering them with wonderful finesse and flawless tone.  

Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 7th June 2012