Steve Davislim

Steve Davislim (14 May 1967 – 10 August 2024) was a Malaysian-born Australian operatic tenor. He was of Chinese and Irish ancestry and was based in Vienna, Austria.

Biography Davislim was born Steven Lim in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, in 1967. His father David Lim is of Chinese ancestry, his parents having settled in Penang from China before World War II. David Lim met his Irish wife

Davislim worked as a horn player in brass groups and orchestras for eight years while studying for his Bachelor of Music at the Victorian College of the Arts. While there, he commenced vocal studies under Dame Joan Hammond, and graduated with honours.

Davislim became a member of the Zurich Opera in 1994. His roles there included Count Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Achilles in Offenbach's La belle Hélène, Tamino in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Camille in Lehár's The Merry Widow, and Gonsalvo in Ravel's L'heure espagnole.

He participated in the recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, part of that group's prize-winning complete Beethoven symphony recording on the Ars Nova label.

In 2007 he participated, along with an all-Australian cast, in the world premiere recordings of two works by Camille Saint-Saëns: the opera Hélène (written for Davislim's Australian operatic forebear Nellie Melba), and the cantata Nuit persane, both with Orchestra Victoria conducted by Guillaume Tourniaire.

He was a frequent concert singer, appearing with the Chicago Symphony, the BBC Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Royal Danish Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra. He also made numerous live and broadcast appearances with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Selected recordings Karol Szymanowski: Concerto for violin N° 1, Symphony N° 3 "Chant de la nuit", Christian Tetzlaff, violin, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Singverein Chorus, Steve Davislim, ténor, conducted by Pierre Boulez. CD Deutsche Grammophon 2009 & 2010. Diapason d'or of the year 2011