The Welsh tenor Ryland Davies, who has died aged 80, was noted for most of his career as a golden-toned singer of Mozart, Rossini and the lighter Donizetti roles, though latterly of more colourful character parts.
He had had no musical training before he went to the Royal Manchester College of Music (now the RNCM) at the age of 17, but the quality of his voice, and in particular his phrasing, was noticed by his teacher Frederic Cox. By the time he entered the Glyndebourne chorus two years later, he had learned the rudiments: “I could read my treble clef and I could follow the conductor.”
