He is, without doubt, the most gifted male singer of his generation. Performing frees him.
But then, we’re talking here of an artist for whom instinct is all A ‘natural’ The word has been over- used and abused But in Bryn Terfel’s case, it really does apply. The orchestra had arrived – ‘another blast of energy, another piece of the jigsaw to add to the costumes and scenery’ Now for the audience Only then, says Terfel, is the performance born He comes alive with an audience The feedback, the exchange of energy He drinks it up Rehearsal inhibits him. But now that things were set in his mind, now that he had something definite to build on, the time had come to do it. Terfel is honest enough to admit that he doesn’t actually enjoy the rehearsal process Yes, it had been stimulating – to a point.

They start to think again.’ Even Patrice Chereau? Particularly Patrice Chereau. But you know, I find that after four or five weeks of good, useful work, producers are inclined to start changing things. I know it’s good to have the extra time when you are preparing a new role – and Leporello is quite a role so busy, so physical; he’s rarely off the stage. Terfel’s wife Lesley and newborn son Tomos had arrived in town He was restless Impatient for an audience ‘Seven weeks is too long. At least, that was producer Patrice Chereau’s current thinking But Salzburg was getting hotter And so were rehearsals. He was growing more like Don Giovanni each day – his twin, his alter ego, his conscience, ultimately his better judgement. Bryn Terfel was in the seventh and final week of rehearsal for his first Leporello.

When we’ve reached the point where Britain can support free-standing country stations, you wonder whether the indigenous culture is distinctive enough for anyone to get so het up about it.. There are British country practitioners (they have a showcase in Radio 2’s British Country – a series ended last Thursday); British rock has evolved its own styles, but the essence of British country is imitating the Americans.Which made it a little odd on Sunday night, listening to Country 1035, to hear headlines about Unionist bombs. Jazz and rock may have strong American associations, but they have been assimilated over here, whereas country music is, by definition, American. But the distinctive thing about Country’s playlist is that it’s white pop music – as opposed to the black pop music (soul, blues) which is the staple of Jazz FM, or whatever it calls itself these days.Still, let’s stick with the idea of Country as a country station: that means that it is, unless somebody knows better, the first station in Britain to be wholly dedicated to another country’s culture. There is genuine country stuff – with its characteristic, incongruous mix of uncomplicated hymns to family and church and small-town virtue, and the ballads of drink and whores, faithlessness and despair. Most of the music comes from the popular, inoffensive end of the genre – Glen Campbell singing ‘Wichita Lineman’, Crystal Gayle with ‘Don’t it Make My Brown Eyes Blue’ – and some of it is barely country at all (in particular, it looks as though the record shop was doing a special on the Eagles the day they stocked up).

Otherwise, it’s just music, music, music, twang, twang, twang, occasional station jingles and voices announcing ‘Country 1035′ and urging you to ‘tell your friends – neighbours – people you work with,’ with a slight air of ‘Is there anybody I’ve forgotten to mention?’Probably the decent thing is to come clean and say that so far (it started last Thursday) I’ve rather enjoyed it, far more than I expected to Genuine country music fans probably wouldn’t, though. Occasionally, a DJ pops up to tell you that this is Country 1035, and there are a few adverts, mostly egging you on to make a will (niche marketing, really: this being country, the songs have already left you in a receptive frame of mind for talk about death and loved ones). The volume of traffic bulletins suggests that, even if the local geography isn’t suited to it, Country 1035 thinks of itself as a drivers’ station – providing a fantasy of wide- open spaces, perhaps, to people for whom being hemmed in by the Sierras is a problem of commuting rather than a description of the landscape.
On the other hand, there may not be that many traffic bulletins – they just stand out because there’s very little speech. They are interrupted by announcements of congestion at Turnpike Lane or Junction 12 of the M25 clockwise or the Hanger Lane gyratory system.

Sometimes the songs are about pick- ups and Chevvys and rigs and interstates. You don’t have to strain your eyes to spot the contradiction inherent in Country 1035: a country music station broadcasting exclusively to London? These are Big Road, Big Car songs, for listening to while you drive your Chevvy or your pick-up or haul your rig along the interstate. The total assurance of everyone, especially the conductor, David Robertson, belied the element of chance in this piece.. The later Domaines was a much tougher piece in which a masterful clarinettist (Andre Trouttet) cajoled and harangued the surrounding groups of musicians, calling forth replies that were ironic, violent or nebulous. The stamp and snap of the rhythm, the swing and lilt of the dance measures, the barbaric eloquence of the cello recitative, all added up to a peasant, expressionist Bartok far removed from dreary modernist ideology.On Friday, the Ensemble InterContemporain showed that Boulez’s Le Marteau sans maitre could be played with a sweet crystalline poise. The Transylvan Quartet from Romania made Bartok’s Fourth sound raw and dangerous, as though played around a gypsy camp-fire.