“I highlighted the need we had for such a stage some years ago and now we have it, it would have been a little ironic if I hadn’t given of my time to perform here,” he said.

It also allows him to reciprocate the dedication Welsh National Opera’s general director, Scottish-born John Fisher, has shown to his career.

But Terfel’s continued dedication to his commitments extends beyond WNO and the WMC to his annual Faenol Festival and his patronage of the Welsh Singers Competition, which he won in 1988. He went on to represent Wales in what is now BBC Cardiff Singer of the World the following year and he ensures he stays in touch with the emerging talent in the contest.

“I always follow the careers of the young singers,” he says. “I was speaking to Rebecca Evans (a past winner of Welsh Singers Competition and a judge this year) and heard about the singers she had reacted to, and the names of the ones they thought definitely had what it takes.”

Tickets for Welsh Singers Competition on Monday, June 16, are on sale from tomorrow at St David’s Hall box office. To book visit www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk or call 029 20878444.

Source: South Wales Echo