The last word
Seeing as he was quizzed about it, we asked Sir Bryn to tell us - in his own words - how to pronounce his surname. Here he is.
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Diolch
funaki1979 asks:
I am a big fan. I love the way you sang Suo Gân, which is one of my favourite songs. What is your favourite song that you have ever sung?
Guardian contributor suo gān as you know was used on Empire of the Sun by Steven Spielberg and sung by my wonderful colleague Sir Simon Keenlyside when he was a student at Cambridge. This song is close to my top three. I would say my favourite would be the one my grandmother asked me learn. Cān yr arad goch by Idris Lewis always brings a tear to my eye.
David K Blake asks:
Have you ever been approached by the Manic Street Preachers for a collaboration?
Guardian contributor
Ignatzratzkywatzky asks:
I was lucky enough to be in the audience when you joined Sir Van Morrison on stage at Cardiff’s Festival of Voice last year. Are you chums with The Belfast Cowboy and is there any possibility whatsoever of you recording together in the future?
Guardian contributor I would love to! I hear his concert last weekend in llangollen was magnificent.
garryph asks:
Hello Bryn: I’m a retired (but still occasional) professional baritone with a particular interest in English song (and joint editor of the series A Century of English Song). Your interpretations of English song have been a revelation - thank you! I love to hear you sing Arthur Somervell’s Cycle of Songs from Tennyson’s Maud (modern edition by Geoffrey Bush in Musica Britannica). If you don’t know it I think you’ll find it very much to your taste. Incidentally, I am also a member of the Welsh Music Guild!
Guardian contributor
BaronOchs asks:
I have your wonderful recording of Salome conducted by Sinopoli. Any plans to sing more Strauss?
Guardian contributor Interesting nugget of information about this recording: I recorded it in a church in Berlin without any other singers or orchestra or conductor as the original John the Baptist had fallen ill during the recording sessions. I learnt it in a week and i think Deutsche Grammophon and their amazing producers did a great job.
I would love to sing more Mandryka in Arabella but time is of the essence. I would say that all the other roles are too low in the voice.
chrishampton1981 says:
I really enjoyed your performance as Sweeney Todd at the English National Opera a couple of years ago. Are there any other Sondheim pieces which you would like to sing and why?
Guardian contributor I would have to ask Mr Sondheim. He always talks about the magical Mabinogion tales from Wales and that he'd love to compose a piece about them. (I wish he'd hurry up and do them!)
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In praise of Abbado
carffion23 asks:
It’s been some years now since we lost the great maestro Claudio Abbado.
He said that he always enjoyed working with you. What was it like to collaborate with the great man?
Guardian contributor I had 8 glorious years with Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic in various concerts - Christmas, oratorios, opera etc etc. These are the cherished years of singing. Making music with Claudio was something special will stay with me for the rest of my career. He always conducted score-less and I posed the question to him 'do you have a photographic memory?' He answered No, but in a sense the music came alive and flowed from the score. He never missed a note, a dynamic, a breath and was undoubtedly a singer's maestro.
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welshymerlin asks:
Would you take part in augmented reality experiments? Does the idea of performing by hologram after your death intrigue you or frighten you?
Guardian contributor Celine Dion uses the hologram in her Las Vegas show where she magically sings a duet with Stevie Wonder - she says to the audience "i'd like to welcome a friend on stage for a duet" and he magically appears. I never sang the Pearl Fishers duet with Pavarotti - please can I do this some day on a concert stage?!
parsnipsoup asks:
Do you eat laverbread for breakfast? And are leeks your favourite vegetable?
Guardian contributor No, but my fiancee does as she is from Swansea. but yes, i do love leeks.
tomcasagranda asks:
Who’s the best duet partner, Renee Fleming or Charlotte Church?
Guardian contributor I love them both. And most probably the two of them started singing because of the same reasons.
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29cornwall asks:
My favourite moment in Falstaff - and pretty much in any opera - is the final Fugue. It’s just so glorious! What are your favourites?
Guardian contributor The ending of Walküre. The last time Wotan will see his favourite daughter. The Abschied of course comes at the end of five hours of glorious music and takes every ounce of strength and emotion out of you.
Enough Wagner
Alex Berry asks:
Are there any operas or musicals you’d definitely not want to perform?
Guardian contributor No more new Wagner operas. Sorry Parsifal. Sorry Tristan.
Musicals? hmm... interesting... none come to mind.
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Girl power
A question via Twitter from Tarik O’Regan:
Who are your greatest role models?
Guardian contributor 
CaptainGinger adds:
...and tomorrow; England or Croatia? Does the “Anyone but England” supporters’ rule apply in football as well as rugby? ;-)
Guardian contributor
Beyond opera
CaptainGinger asks:
Outside opera, what is your life in music like? What do you listen to in the car with the kids? Singing in the shower; Meatloaf or Wagner? Live music - for whom would you cross a continent to watch? And is there any sort of music you actively dislike?
Guardian contributor Friday night, before the opening of the Royal Opera House's Falstaff, I took my youngest son Deio and my fiancee Hannah to see Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) at Hyde Park. I had recorded Roger's Ca Ira and was given the VIP treatment by this iconic clever and brilliant rock star. My brother and I loved Pink Floyd and I introduced my 17-year-old son to their music which will now be played in his car. I loved Queen, Dire Straits, Elvis Presley and still do.
And, No, there's no music i actively dislike!
Read a Guardian review of Roger Waters’ tour.
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Lloerig asks:
Technically, in which language is it easiest to sing? Is it different for e.g. soprano and bass voices?
Guardian contributor Whichever language you sing in has the same amount of homework and dedication and style and interpretation. Personally, I find German and Italian to be my favourites, as I can correct myself. Singing Boris Godunov at the Royal Opera House in Russian last year was a revelation. The year before, I had to manage finding Russian coaches in Monte Carlo, Paris, New York and - last but not least - Beaver Creek in Colorado (a rather splendid skiing venue!) Russian is so alien and I had no concept of the language and therefore couldn't correct myself in any way, sort or form and so totally relied on these wonderful language coaches.
My mother tongue - Welsh - is of course the language that I feel connected to and consider English to be the most difficult to perform as it's so international. I just did a recital in Aldeburgh where i sang 80 percent English song and therefore had to get every word perfect because the audience knew the poetry.
Comic roles
danslenoir asks:
Do you prefer singing comic roles (like Dulcamara in L’Elisir), or more serious ones?
Guardian contributor I have no preference. Obviously a comic role gives you the opportunity to perform in operas that could be perceived to be more approachable. But I have to emphasise that any production we are put into you have to be faithful to the original director's vision. For instance, I'm doing the Royal Opera House Falstaff at the moment. Originally, I sang this production in Milan at La Scala. The original singer - Ambrogio Maestri - sang the first six performances and I took on the baton for the last five. I went to hear him twice to see exactly what he did and in a sense I copied all his movements, gestures and geography. For me, Falstaff is never about hamming it up, it's all about being true to t he director's vision and to the glorious score that Verdi wrote. Every movement, every gesture is in that score and you'd be a fool to ignore it. So, in answer to your question, I take every opera in the same spirit, be it comic or serious. The element of creating a role when you're in a new production is somewhat different as you rely on the director's vision firsthand and from the horse's mouth.
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AlexNeedham asks:
What’s the most challenging opera to perform, how do you prepare to do it, and how do you feel afterwards?
Guardian contributor I think it will be Berg's Wozzeck when I finally decide, some day, to pick up the score and learn it. I was offered it in the early 90s with Abbado and Peter STein in Salzburg, but had to cancel as I hadn't started early enough to learn the piece. That was a big learning curve for me personally as I was so disappointed in myself. What a missed opportunity. But learning Arabella and performing Rake's Progress was not conducive to preparing for such an iconic piece. In the end, I think I made the right decision.
CarlBr0wn says:
Hi Bryn, like many people, opera still totally baffles me – it’s like an alien language, though one I admit that I might end up learning if I put my mind to it. What’s the best gateway drug into it? And why do you think people struggle with it: is it the form itself, or the elitism/poshness?
Guardian contributor I started my journey in opera placing cassette tapes into a cassette player on a Massey Ferguson tractor on the farm in North Wales. The baritone was Hôkan Hâggegard from Sweden. I was curious why i wasn't reaching the high notes that he was singing in all the arias. Obviously three years later I discovered i was a lazy baritone (bass baritone) !
But this was certainly the way I learnt about opera singers and singing. Five years later, having finished at the Guildhall School of music and drama, I had certainly caught up in my studies to embark on a professional career.
Opera';s not difficult. It's a language that is approachable with homework and dedication. The best gateway drug? listen to as many recordings as you can, of past and present singers. Work on the discography, and have a nice glass of claret next to you on the table.
MaestroRC asks:
Two simple questions: Do you know The Absent-Minded Beggar by Sir Arthur Sullivan to a poem by Rudyard Kipling? I’d love to hear you assay it on record.
As a composer I’d also like to know what texts you would like set for voice and piano - and in what style?
Guardian contributor No - I didn't know of this piece - thank you for bringing it to my attention.
And to answer your other question: John Masefield is one of my favourite poets already set by numerous composers . Being a Welshman i feel a little disappointed that I haven't personally commissioned works with Dylan Thomas. Maybe somethign for the future?
Sachs appeal
winecork asks:
When will you revive your wonderful role in Meistersinger. Why did you turn the Met in New York down. You were wonderful in the Welsh production.
Guardian contributor The Welsh National Opera production by RIchard Jones was indeed a highlight of my career and singing Hans Sachs in the world's greatest opera house - Covent Garden was a dream come true. By any yardstick, the longest role ever written for the bass baritone voice. As for singing it in New York at the Met - i was never offered a contract to sing this in NY . But they had the magnificent JAmes Morris for a decade in this role. Maybe my Sachs days are over and the boots will be hung up with a smile on my face.
Dodesy quickly gets in another:
What are your thoughts on Man Utd in the post-Fergie years? Are you worried about Liverpool overtaking you under Klopp?
I always commented that Peter Schmeichel - the goalkeeper - during the Fergie years was the reason for the team's continued success behind a very strict rigid back four. I like Klopp. Sadly Gareth Bale spoiled the party in the Champions' League but Liverpool will go from strength to strength. Obviously Man Utd have to dip their cash flow into t he market after the world cup and strengthen their defence otherwise Liverpool will catch up very quickly.
Dodesy asks:
What are the three fine wines that everybody should taste before they die?
Chateau D'Yqem, Penfolds Grange and then one of my favourites as I took my father to the winery when he was 70 in New Zealand, Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc.
Toiletcleaner asks:
Do you think anyone outside Wales will ever pronounce your surname correctly?
(To which Quackersyard adds: You even get people on R3 mispronouncing it, people who ought to have better-than-normal ears and musical knowledge, and plenty of experience pronouncing “foreign” names.)
IT happens frequently, even when called on to the stage in a world class opera house. Now Sir Bryn is a much easier option but if you want to pronounce Terfel correctly, just remember one F in Welsh is pronounced as a V.
TheBorderGuard asks:
Have you ever been to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch?
Here we go
Sir Bryn Terfel is in the Guardian building!
Post your questions for Bryn Terfel
Born the son of a farmer in Pant Glas on the slopes of Snowdon, north Wales, in 1965, Bryn Terfel made his opera debut in 1990, the year after winning the Lieder prize at the Cardiff Singer of the World competition. “He is unmistakably a singer at the start of a brilliant career,” wrote the Guardian. Indeed, he’s since sung in all the world’s major opera houses and concert halls, bringing his extraordinary voice, musicality and acting talents to every role he creates, from Wagner’s king of the gods to Sondheim’s demon barber of Fleet Street.
He’s duetted with Tom Jones, Rob Bryden and Van Morrison, and performed Rule Britannia at 1994’s Last Night of the Proms clad in a Welsh rugby shirt and wrapped in the red dragon. “Terfel is a born communicator ... and the finest British singer to emerge in the last decade, even if his resemblance to Meatloaf gets more disconcerting as his hair gets longer,” said our critic Andrew Clements.
He’s in London this month to sing Verdi’s Falstaff in the Royal Opera House’s revival of Robert Carson’s fine production – a real-life knight singing Shakespeare’s much-loved buffoon.
Terfel’s Twitter profile lists him as “bass-baritone, father, golfer, fine-wine collector and MUFC supporter”. He told an interviewer early in his career: “If I hadn’t made it as a singer I’d have been a fireman.” Firefighting’s loss has been music’s gain. He will be live online on Tuesday 10 July at 1.30pm BST to answer as many of your questions as he can – so post them in the comment section below.
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Diolch o galon am y cwestiynna. Arnai ofn fod rhaid mi fynd i ganu yr ail sioe yn y Tŷ Opera Brenhinnol !!
Thank you for all the questions - i'm afraid I've got to go now and do the second Falstaff show at the Royal Opera House tonight. I love it!