Two of the brightest stars in Britain’s opera firmament, Iestyn Davies, 38, and Allan Clayton, 37, have known each other for almost two decades, ever since they were students with choral scholarships at St John’s College, Cambridge. They sang plenty together back then, but Davies is far happier recalling their first professional job beyond uni.
“It was on Bargain Hunt,” the countertenor says. His tenor friend is appalled. “Why would you bring that up? Don’t show them the video!” But before he’s finished saying it, Davies has his phone out. “It’s on YouTube. We sang with David Dickinson!” (Search for Bargain Hunt and Chemical Toilet Brothers to find it.)
Never mind Mark Rylance, with whom Davies appeared in the West End and on Broadway, in