Wow I thought I had an early Bryn recording (he appears in a bit part in a 1988 studio recording of Adriana Lecouvreur with Dame Joan Sutherland in the title role)...but this one is a baby Bryn.
Honestly, I can't remember. I'm pretty sure I downloaded it from somewhere on the internet years ago when I was working on a paper in Grad school. That would have been about 1999 or so. I saved it and then years later thought it should be on Youtube.
There is no "operatic sound". Good vocal coaches strip away faults which may harm the voice and which may prevent it from achieving its power and tonal range.
When a singer has to sing to the back rows in an opera house it ends up with a particular sound. Terfal can also croon gently and it does not sould "operatic" Renee Flemming sings jazz and it does not sound "operatic" either.
Both will protect their voices regardless of genre though.
Grief, just imagine, five or so years from this point, he would be contending for one of the worlds most coveted singing awards, cardiff singer of the world. What transformation!
No, but the colour of his voice was much brighter than it is now. Unfortunately many people can´t divide between the colour (bright/dark) and the range (tenor/bariton/bass) of a voice.
Listen to the voices of Franz Crass and Gottlob Frick. Both of them were basses, but Frick´s voice was very dark and Crass´s voice very bright.
You can also find examples in the tenor fach: Jonas Kaufmann has quite a dark voice and Ian Bostridge sometimes soundes like a countertenor.
The funny thing is that, since he sang this way and likely did for some more years, his voice was better off later for that big sound. If he had tried that big operatic sound earlier, his voice wouldn't have been ready for it and could have been pretty badly damaged.
You're dead on, Clarksc1988. Well said. No reason, at that age to be trying to sound like a grown up opera singer. It's no wonder so few singers out there have the nuanced control that he has at his disposal.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
@clarksc1988 I don't really agree with that assessment. There are plenty of singers who had a big, grown up sound very early on(listen to Jerome Hines at age 17). While age plays a part, the sort of sound you are referring to is largely a product of technique, not age. And Terfel's voice started going downhill at age 30, so it's difficult to make an argument that he somehow enhanced his durability
@UptownRed As he's singing a folk-song here, the lightness of idiom is quite appropriate and, no doubt, deliberately non-operatic. In point of fact, I don't remember Bryn singing much opera/oratorio, at least not competitively, at this stage. He tended to focus on a-cappella folksong and "cerdd-dant" (a traditional Welsh form of art-song, where poetry is sung in one tune, with a harp playing a different one). He seemed to win a lot of those competitions, too... a sign of things to come :)
@UptownRed Plus opera singers are trained to master their own natural voice to sound operatic. As a 17 year old, this is a pretty operatic sound for him. I'm 19 and being trained by an opera singer to sing opera and I don't sound like current Bryn Terfel because, like him in this video, his voice hasn't fully developed into the deep booming baritone you know now
Gasp! Baby Bryn!
HParker001 2 months ago
ah 1983, before the advent of glorious technicolor
MrJupiterLo 2 months ago
Delightful!
1jillshaw64 4 months ago
Incredible! I really hope it's real. And I wonder if he thought he might have become a tenor back then (before the voice had settled)...
Englishtenor2 5 months ago
This is a wonderful recording to have to compare with the way Bryn sounds now.
arpeggio1358 7 months ago
@arpeggio1358 I agree. It's a wonderful recording and a very interesting comparison.
jewelmarkess 7 months ago
Wow I thought I had an early Bryn recording (he appears in a bit part in a 1988 studio recording of Adriana Lecouvreur with Dame Joan Sutherland in the title role)...but this one is a baby Bryn.
baritonebynight 8 months ago
Honestly, I can't remember. I'm pretty sure I downloaded it from somewhere on the internet years ago when I was working on a paper in Grad school. That would have been about 1999 or so. I saved it and then years later thought it should be on Youtube.
UptownRed 11 months ago
Wow he sounds so different!! I'd love to hear the whole thing!! Where did you find this?
limsinger 11 months ago
very slim
Miauriceful 11 months ago
There is no "operatic sound". Good vocal coaches strip away faults which may harm the voice and which may prevent it from achieving its power and tonal range.
When a singer has to sing to the back rows in an opera house it ends up with a particular sound. Terfal can also croon gently and it does not sould "operatic" Renee Flemming sings jazz and it does not sound "operatic" either.
Both will protect their voices regardless of genre though.
donaldrose 1 year ago
Grief, just imagine, five or so years from this point, he would be contending for one of the worlds most coveted singing awards, cardiff singer of the world. What transformation!
cjr2580 1 year ago
Did he started out as a tenor?
fingal61 2 years ago
No, but the colour of his voice was much brighter than it is now. Unfortunately many people can´t divide between the colour (bright/dark) and the range (tenor/bariton/bass) of a voice.
Listen to the voices of Franz Crass and Gottlob Frick. Both of them were basses, but Frick´s voice was very dark and Crass´s voice very bright.
You can also find examples in the tenor fach: Jonas Kaufmann has quite a dark voice and Ian Bostridge sometimes soundes like a countertenor.
stefanloehrwuerzburg 2 years ago
You can see him, a bit older, in the clips of John Eliot Gardiner's Monteverdi Vespers in St. Mark's.
drtmuir 2 years ago
interesting....this is great thanks 4 posting
roxcatipay 2 years ago
Depending on when in 1983, he's 17 probably or 18. Interesting that he's not trying for some "grown up" operatic sound.
UptownRed 2 years ago
I think that is key reason to his success. His voice was then allowed to develop very freely and with little restrain
FollaPoker 2 years ago
@UptownRed
The funny thing is that, since he sang this way and likely did for some more years, his voice was better off later for that big sound. If he had tried that big operatic sound earlier, his voice wouldn't have been ready for it and could have been pretty badly damaged.
clarksc1988 2 years ago 9
You're dead on, Clarksc1988. Well said. No reason, at that age to be trying to sound like a grown up opera singer. It's no wonder so few singers out there have the nuanced control that he has at his disposal.
UptownRed 2 years ago 7
@clarksc1988 Absolutely right. Bryn's career is a great example of appropriate step by step development.
pleximold 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
@clarksc1988 I don't really agree with that assessment. There are plenty of singers who had a big, grown up sound very early on(listen to Jerome Hines at age 17). While age plays a part, the sort of sound you are referring to is largely a product of technique, not age. And Terfel's voice started going downhill at age 30, so it's difficult to make an argument that he somehow enhanced his durability
tdmcdevitt 10 months ago
@UptownRed As he's singing a folk-song here, the lightness of idiom is quite appropriate and, no doubt, deliberately non-operatic. In point of fact, I don't remember Bryn singing much opera/oratorio, at least not competitively, at this stage. He tended to focus on a-cappella folksong and "cerdd-dant" (a traditional Welsh form of art-song, where poetry is sung in one tune, with a harp playing a different one). He seemed to win a lot of those competitions, too... a sign of things to come :)
ftumschk 1 year ago
@UptownRed Plus opera singers are trained to master their own natural voice to sound operatic. As a 17 year old, this is a pretty operatic sound for him. I'm 19 and being trained by an opera singer to sing opera and I don't sound like current Bryn Terfel because, like him in this video, his voice hasn't fully developed into the deep booming baritone you know now
DemonHunterDante316 1 year ago
how old is terfel during this time?
roxcatipay 2 years ago