Ryland Davies (9 February 1943[1] – 5 November 2023) was a Welsh operatic tenor who appeared internationally at leading opera houses and festivals.

He performed as Ferrando in Mozart's Così fan tutte in 1969, his first time in Italian,[1] alongside Hanneke Van Borkas as Fiordiligi and Anne Howells, his wife, as Dorabella, conducted by John Pritchard.

He performed as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte in 1980, and as Lysander in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream from 1981, staged by Peter Hall, and conducted by Bernard Haitink, with Ileana Cotrubaș as Tytania, Cynthia Buchan as Hermia, Felicity Lott as Helena, and Dale Duesing as Demetrius.

[6] He performed as Tichon in Janáček's Káťa Kabanová from 1988, staged by Nikolaus Lehnhoff and conducted by Davis, with Nancy Gustafson in the title role and Felicity Palmer as the Kabanicha.

[4][8] He returned to the house in 1994 to portray Le Duc in Massenet's Chérubin, playing who he described in a 1998 interview with Bruce Duffie as a "fussy-arsed little chap" who "boss[es] everybody around".

[1] Later in his career, he performed supporting roles there such as M. Ploc in Offenbach's La belle Vivette in 1995, the Chaplain in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites, in 1999 Basilio, and Reverend Adams in Britten's Peter Grimes.

[4] Davies appeared as Cassio in Verdi's Otello at the 1970 Salzburg Festival, staged and conducted by Herbert von Karajan, with sets by Günther Schneider-Siemssen; he sang alongside Jon Vickers in the title role, Mirella Freni as Desdemona, and Peter Glossop as Jago.

[8] Students included Ian Bostridge, Sam Furness, Jacques Imbrailo, David Butt Philip, Stuart Jackson, Robert Murray and Andrew Staples.

[13] He performed his debut role at the Royal Opera House, Hylas in Les Troyens, in a 1969 studio recording conducted by Colin Davis, with Berit Lindholm as Cassandre and Josephine Veasey as Dido;[14] his wife Anne Howells appeared as Ascagne.

[5] He performed as Arturo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in a 1971 recording starring Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti as Eduardo, Sherrill Milnes as Enrico and Nicolai Ghiaurov as Raimondo, with chorus and orchestra of the Royal Opera House, conducted by Richard Bonynge.

[16] He recorded the role of Belmonte on a DVD from the 1980 Glyndebourne Festival, directed by Peter Wood and conducted by Gustav Kuhn, alongside Valerie Masterson as Konstanze; a reviewer described his "elegant lyric tenor" as "near ideal", rendering "Mozart's phrases and singing with excellent diction".

[18] He was the tenor soloist in a 1988 recording of Mozart's Requiem, with soprano Helen Donath, alto Yvonne Minton, bass Gerd Nienstedt, the Alldis Choir and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted again by Davis.

Reviewer Stanley Sadie from Gramophone wrote: "The solo singing is of a very high order with many exquisite moments afforded particularly by Helen Donath's sweet, ringing soprano and Ryland Davies's lyrical tenor (caught at its best).