Summary
He has a voice so beautiful he packs out Covent Garden and the Met, yet Bryn Terfel is as happy to talk about X Factor as Wagner. Charming, diffident, persuasive, shy, the giant of opera is a healthy mass of contradictions
Trailing in the wake of Bryn Terfel as we wind our way through the bowels of the Royal Opera House is like walking behind a consummate politician. He has a word for everyone. "When are we getting to see your wife again?" asks the doorman. "How are the kids?" asks a woman in the wig room as we pass. There's chat about the news, the weather, and other small talk. By the time we get to his dressing room, a large, oddly clinical space, empty except for a piano and his costume hanging on a rail, it feels a little different, like a slightly lower wattage performance. He's friendly, of course, but he's a little reserved too. Maybe he's shy. Maybe he's just not that fond of journalists; that would be understandable. But we'll get to that.See the full content of this document
Extract
That's Baritonement
Terfel is the opera singer who revels in duets with pop stars, the Wagnerian who'd rather talk about golf, the international star who loves nowhere more than home. As it turns out, he's a 6ft 4in walking contradiction. On the one hand there's the comfortable, cosy image, like the knitted jumper he's wearing on the cover of his latest CD, Songs from the British Isles. He's just Bryn. A gentle giant with a Desperate Dan chin and a glorious bass baritone voice that's as warming as a hot-toddy. If the world of crossover needed a mascot, a cuddly, over-s...
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