Terfel sings Wagner arias
The Western Mail

FRESH from his triumphant performances of Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and his recording of Falstaff, Bryn Terfel takes on some of the most popular and demanding Wagner arias. The Wagner Arias recording, which will be released next Monday, was made following concerts in Berlin in November 2000 with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Critics were delighted by Terfel's performance with one labelling him, "the Wagner baritone of his generation".

Terfel's fans are now anticipating his debut Wagner roles on stage.

Speculation about plans to perform his first, as Wotan, in the Ring cycle at the Royal Opera House in December 2004 made national headlines.

This year, Terfel's engagements include Falstaff at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Falstaff and The Rake's Progress in Munich; Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann at the Opera Bastille in Paris and Sweeney Todd at the Lyric Opera in Chicago.