Sir Bryn Terfel Jones CBE (born 9 November 1965), known professionally as Bryn Terfel, is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. He has won the Male Artist of the Year at the Classic Brit Awards three times (2000, 2004, 2005) and won a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 2013 (Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung with the Metropolitan Opera, no less).
Within his native Wales, Terfel — who speaks Welsh as his first language — is a well-known patron of Welsh culture. He has been granted membership of the Gorsedd of Bards by the National Eisteddfod — which, if you're Welsh, is a very big deal.
Discography
- Bryn Terfel (1988)
- Bryn Terfel - Volume II (1990)
- The Vagabond and Other Songs by Vaughan Williams, Butterworth, Finzi and Ireland (1995)
- Something Wonderful (1996)
- Handel Arias (1997)
- We'll Keep a Welcome (2000)
- Some Enchanted Evening (2001)
- Under the Stars (2003), with Renée Fleming
- Bryn (2003)
- Simple Gifts (2005)
- Tutto Mozart! (2006)
- First Love (2008)
- Carols and Christmas Songs (2010)
- Homeward Bound (2013), with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
The following tropes are associated with Bryn Terfel:
- Call-Back: One of the songs in We'll Keep a Welcome (2000) is Dylan Thomas's "Sunset Poem" set to music. It's better known as the Reverend Eli Jenkins's evening prayer from Under Milk Wood. In the 2014 BBC TV adaptation of Under Milk Wood, Bryn played the Reverend Eli Jenkins.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: A few examples in his album titles, like Tutto Mozart! and Handel Arias.
- Patriotic Fervor: Bryn is Welsh, and proud of it. We'll Keep a Welcome is full of traditional Welsh songs (some of which are even sung in Welsh). And, just to emphasise the fact that he's a proud Welshman, there's a picture of him wearing the iconic Welsh national rugby shirt in the sleeve notes.
- Stage Name: He dropped the 'Jones' from his actual name in order to avoid confusion with another Welsh baritone, Delme Bryn-Jones (1943-2001).
