Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, CBE (Welsh pronunciation:[ˈbrɨnˈtɛrvɛl]; born 9 November 1965; known professionally as Bryn Terfel), is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially primarily associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro, Leporello and Don Giovanni, and has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Puccini and Wagner.[1]
Biography
Bryn Terfel Jones was born in Pant Glas, Caernarfonshire, Wales, the son of a farmer. His first language is Welsh.[2] To avoid confusion with another Welsh baritone, Delme Bryn-Jones, he chose Bryn Terfel as his professional name. He had an interest in and talent for music from a very young age. A family friend taught him how to sing, starting with traditional Welsh songs.
In 1994 Terfel sang Figaro at Covent Garden, and made both his Metropolitan Opera and Teatro Nacional de São Carlos debuts in the same role. However, back surgery in 1994 (and again in 2000) prevented him from performing in several scheduled events.
In 1996 he expanded his repertoire to include more Wagner, singing Wolfram in Tannhäuser at the Metropolitan Opera, and Stravinsky, singing Nick Shadow in The Rake's Progress at the Welsh National Opera. These performances won him the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for the singer of the year.
In 1997 Terfel made his La Scala debut as Figaro. In 1998, he had a recital at Carnegie Hall which included works by Wolf, Fauré, Brahms, Schumann, Schubert, and others. In 1999, he performed in Paris the title role of Don Giovanni for the first time and sang his first Falstaff at the Lyric Opera of Chicago; the latter of which he reprised in the inaugural production at the newly refurbished Royal Opera House.
In 2007 Terfel performed at the opening gala concert for the re-dedication of the Salt Lake Tabernacle with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on 6–7 April. Later, he performed the title role in a concert version of Sweeney Todd that had four performances from 5–7 July at London's Royal Festival Hall. This idea came from Terfel and his fellow bass-baritone and friend, the Irishman Dermot Malone.[11]
Terfel has not shied away from popular music either. He has recorded CDs of songs by Lerner and Loewe and Rodgers and Hammerstein. In 2001 he commissioned and performed 'Atgof o'r Sêr' ('Memory of the Stars') in the National Eisteddfod with the composer Robat Arwyn.
In September 2007 Terfel withdrew, to severe criticism, from Covent Garden's Der Ring des Nibelungen when his six-year-old son required several operations on his finger. But he successfully returned to the Met in November 2007 to sing the role of Figaro. He told reporters in New York City that he would retire Figaro from his repertoire. But he sang the role of Wotan in Covent Garden's revival of Der Ring in September to November 2012.
Terfel intended to take 2008 as a sabbatical from opera performances, but broke this to take the title role in WNO's revival of Falstaff. He had sung in this production in 1993, when he played the role of Ford.[12] In 2009 Terfel sang Scarpia and the Dutchman for the Royal Opera House.[13][14]
On 17 July 2010, the cast of this production gave a "concert staging" at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the 2010 BBC Proms, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and on BBC Four television.[15] On 31 July, again at the Proms, he performed in a concert from the Royal Albert Hall celebrating the works of Stephen Sondheim, in his 80th birthday year.[16]
Terfel took on the role of Wotan for the premiere performances of Robert Lepage's new Met staging of Wagner's Der Ring 2010–12. He sang the role in all three of the four Der Ring operas that feature Wotan: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre and Siegfried.[17]
In September 2013 Terfel collaborated with Mormon Tabernacle Choir released the album Homeward Bound[18] which reached No. 58 Official UK Charts.
In February 2024 Terfel released a new album, Sea Songs, on Deutsche Grammophon.
Personal life
Terfel was married to his childhood sweetheart, Lesley, in 1987 until their divorce in 2013.
[27][28] The couple have three sons.[29]
In 2017 he and harpist Hannah Stone had a daughter.[30] The couple married on 26 July 2019 at Caersalem Newydd Baptist Church in the bride's home city of Swansea.[31]
Terfel continues to be a patron of the Welsh language and Welsh culture, facets of his life which are largely unknown outside his native Wales. Terfel has been awarded the honour, by the National Eisteddfod, of membership of the Gorsedd of Bards. The Gorsedd was created in 1792 as a celebration of Welsh heritage, and inductees are considered to have contributed to Welsh culture.
Terfel is also president of the Welsh homelessness charity Shelter Cymru and is patron of Bobath Children's Therapy Centre Wales, a registered charity based in Cardiff which provides specialist Bobath therapy to children from all over Wales who have cerebral palsy.
Terfel is a vice president of the Dunvant Male Choir in Swansea, the oldest continuously singing Welsh choir, dating from 1895.[40][41] The choir sang at Terfel's wedding in 2019.[42]
Faenol Festival
In 2000 Terfel founded the Faenol Festival (known in Welsh as "Gŵyl y Faenol"), at the Faenol Estate near Snowdonia, Wales. Billed as "Bryn Terfel's Faenol Festival" (often referred to as "BrynFest") turned into an annual music festival featuring internationally famous opera singers as well as popular Welsh artists. In the same year he released We'll Keep a Welcome – The Welsh Album, an anthology of favourite traditional songs. The festival had been voted a £250,000 grant by the Welsh Assembly, but did not take place in 2009 or 2010 and ended as of 2010.[43] Subsequently, the 2012 Faenol Festival took place in London.[44][45]
Operatic repertoire
Terfel has performed the following roles on stage:[46]
