—— eyes off him. bryn has so many fans who follow him, both physically and emotionally, around the world. he's taking us behind the scenes not only at london's royal opera house, where he's a regular star performer, but right back to where it all started — here in his native wales at the welsh national opera in cardiff. bryn terfel is a passionate advocate of music and culture and nurturing the next generation of talent. for any welsh singer, bryn�*s a massive inspiration and he's still at the top of his game. what sir bryn terfel�*s long and stellar career tells us about how to make opera fit for the future. let me take you to the opera.

sir bryn terfel has all the magic ingredients it takes to become a world—class opera star — incredible stage presence, amazing acting range from dramatic to comic and, of course, a rich bass baritone voice that enthrals audiences wherever he performs. i'm invited backstage ahead of bryn�*s performance in the barber of seville, a comic masterpiece by the 19th century italian composer rossini. before getting into costume, bryn warms up his voice.

hello, it is your make—up call. here now? yes! as if i'm not already fat enough, ey! he plays don basilio, a music teacher whose sole interest is in lining his own pockets. hello, sir bryn terfel! are you here for a singing lesson? i wish! you know, i admire people like you who can sing but ijust can't sing myself. i can sing but i can't teach singing, so i'm glad you said no. oh, well, excellent, excellent. so, here you are in the barber of seville, and this is very much a comic role for you. yeah. i mean, first of all, do you like all the getting into costume and being made up and all the rest of it? it's a crescendo in rehearsal process. you have the rehearsals in the rooms, then you go onto the stage, then you have your costume fittings

and then, all of a sudden, you're in your costume and you're in your make—up and you're portraying a character, so that's when the fun really does begin. do you ever get nervous? i think we have — well, i certainly think i have a nervousness that takes me to a certain limit that will not hamper anything that i have to do on the stage, so the adrenaline is a good adrenaline and it's a good nervousness. you know, we're all warming up in our dressing rooms and excited to go on the stage, really. and is there anything that can beat performing in a live opera in costume for you? well, funnily enough, you can see my palate for the next week. i've got gianni schicchi, which i'm singing in liverpool in a couple of days... by puccini. ..and this is tonight, of course. and then i've got an album of sea shanties coming along. we'll be recording that in wales. in wales? just outside cardiff. really looking forward to it. can i come along and listen to you do that? of course you could, yeah!

speaks welsh. what does that mean? see you in wales. bryn�*s musical education at the guildhall school of music brought him to london for the first time. he won a coveted place there in 1984 and, in his last year, he was awarded the school's top music prize, the gold medal. hello, bryn! i made it to wales! croeso i gymru! come on, say it — croeso i gymru! hello, chaps. thank you so much! terrific to be here. we're in the middle

of recording an album full of sea shanties. so, we're going to rehearse and record today one of wales�*s most famous tunes, fflat huw puw. most probably, we'll do a little bit of drunken sailor as well. oh, that will be a bit of fun. # what shall we do with a drunken sailor # what shall we do with a drunken sailor # what shall we do with a drunken sailor # early in the morning! # way hay and up she rises # way hey and up she rises, # way hey and up she rises # early in the morning! and what's the welsh song about? fflat huw puw — well, it's all about this wonderful ship that he's been cleaning and he's making it look like his best parlour and he's off to travel the world. but, of course, he wants to come back home as well. ah, but of course, to beautiful wales.

like the character he's singing about, bryn travels around the world. he's used to the dazzle and glamour of top opera houses and the bright lights of the stage, but he prefers to live in the quiet of the welsh countryside. bryn grew up in rural north wales, where his father was a farmer and his mother a special needs teacher who used music therapy in her work. so, it was a musical household. my grandfather, my great—grandfather, they all had

the love of singing and, yes, my parents have great voices that are most probably guided towards being a part of a choir. my mum's in a female choir, my dad's in a male voice choir so there was constant learning going on in the kitchen — you know, words on the cabinets. a little bit of rivalry as well, which is quite healthy. # i am dreaming... and there's still plenty of music for bryn at home. his wife is hannah stone, the renowned welsh harpist. when i met her, she was the royal harpist for prince charles — which was, of course, something that queen victoria had — and this position was held for four years. so, i had seen hannah play and i invited her on my christmas programme and that's when we met, and i guess it was love

at first accompaniment. is it very special, performing with her? zeinab, i don't have to tell you, i've sung with a harp since i was a young lad, so its magnificent to have two musicians in the house and i'm always intrigued by how these harpists can play that instrument of 47 strings and seven pedals. it's dedication, hard work — and the hard work that she sees does translate into me wanting to work harder as well. sings in german it was his beloved wales that set bryn onto the path of global success. in 1989, he won the song prize in the bbc cardiff singer of the world contest. but i was really nervous in that competition and within the days

of competing as well, i was doing an opera as a student in the guildhall school of music and drama, so it was maybe an insight into how one�*s career would develop in the future. but, yeah, undoubtedly, cardiff singer of the world gave you those steps up the ladder much quicker than expected. and it was with the welsh national opera that bryn made his professional operatic debut in cosi fan tutte by mozart. this is a knockabout opera that owes as much to the pantomime tradition as it does to opera. aidan lang, currently the welsh national opera's director oversaw that performance more than 30 years ago. to entrust someone who was barely out of college with the title role at wno was not a risk but it was an adventure for the company to take. we saw him at cardiff singer of the world, and that's on an international platform.

and being the welsh national opera, it seemed too good an opportunity to pass up. i worked with the highly eminent conductor sir charles mackerras, who's world famous for his work in mozart. and after a minute of his singing, charles lent over to me and said "i don't think we're going to have any "problems with this," he said, and we knew. the rest is history, really. though, before bryn made it onto the stage for the wno, he was thrown out. just before he did his first professional engagement with us, singing in cosi fan tutte, he came in with a pal to watch some of his pal�*s rehearsal. i didn't know who he was and all of our rehearsals are closed and nobody who isn't within the company at the time is allowed, so i politely asked him to leave. it's caused a few giggles subsequently, however. bryn has got such wonderful humanity and humility — i go back to that all the time. they're his calling cards, if you like, in his persona.

it was the welsh national opera that launched bryn�*s career and catapulted him onto the world stage. it was here in cardiff that he first performed one of his most iconic roles — that of falstaff, the opera by verdi, based on the shakespearean comic character. you can see that he wore a fat suit underneath. oh, gosh, can i touch it? yeah, it is padded by wadding and it's got netting to create all the sort of leg and varying areas to build him up as a bigger man than he already is. but, i mean, that looks terrifically hot and you're under all those lights and singing. you had to pat his brow down and make sure all was well while we did the change. five minutes�* worth of four people helping him as we go. like a pit stop, everybody did their task and then got him all dressed up to get back on stage.

i mean, it really is very convincing, isn't it? gosh, i shall close this up and protect his modesty! bryn is keen to encourage a new generation of singers. what is it about the welsh and singing? i mean, you produce a nation of singers, it seems. what is it? mountains, the fresh sea air. the language, zeinab, is very important. we have seven vowels in welsh — a, e, i, o, u, w, y. the hymns of wales. people love to sing — it's that air that we breathe.

the welsh tradition of eisteddfods — singing and recital competitions that take place across the country — encourage a love of singing from an early age. among sir bryn�*s many charitable initiatives is a scholarship to develop the most promising young performers who come up through these competitions. it's something that was an important part of bryn�*s own success. any given village in wales can have an eisteddfod every weekend, so my poor parents paid a lot of petrol to drive me north, south, east and west to compete. but they knew they saw something in their son, in their child. they saw the passion that he had. he loved singing, so i think that drove them to encourage the singing that i had within me. so, the eisteddfod is that

wonderful shop window. i've come to llangadog, a village just outside swansea, where the local eisteddfod attracts young singers from around the area as well as from all across wales. i like performing in eisteddfods because i really like music, and my ambition is to go to the sydney opera house when i'm older. this is where it all starts for us welsh singers — we start in the local eisteddfods.

this is where we learn, sort of, the craft. and then, when we go to london to study or to the conservatoires, we can see the difference with the welsh singers — we've got a sort of, i guess, confidence. so, watching you judging these voices, what do you look for in a voice? well, i think, for me, it's the tone quality and how the vowel sounds that they create are one of the most key things for me — how the voice resonates — and also how the voice works with text. i think that is really important. and, of course, that is what bryn terfel is fantastic at doing as well. now, you know sir bryn terfel. just describe his voice for us, with your musical knowledge.

what makes it so great? i think the resonance of that voice and because he's such a large frame, i think that that — it's like a beautiful double bass, isn't it? and then, the sound that he generates is quite incredible and also, the control he has in his voice. he can sing the most delicate piece as well, so it's quite a unique voice, and is very special. some of these young people are hoping they can achieve the fame and acclaim that sir bryn enjoys. however, he says that success can also come at the cost. —— however, he says success can also come at a cost. i've had injuries on the stage. my back has been a constant problem, especially with raked stages. so, i've had to cancel some operas and i've had some difficult patches about people

asking should i have done this or not done this, not knowing the full story of things that have happened to you. it is water off a duck�*s back but maybe it's that given swan on a lake, peddling like mad. you cope well with pressure, because it is a pressured world, performing at your level. one in america called me "a mack truck" once. you know, one of these big trucks that can carry anything, that will plough through everything, any challenge put on your plate. i thought she was pretty correct in her description. during bryn�*s illustrious career, he has tackled roles from across the operatic spectrum including wotan, king of the gods, from wagner's epic ring cycle.

but as much as sir bryn loves performing in the big opera houses, he's also passionate about reaching new audiences in concert halls. he's sung all the great opera roles, and also music theatre, but to come and sing in a concert hall like the royal festival hall — well, that really is a special occasion because you are somehow up close with this enormous musical presence. sings in german bryn�*s status as a national icon meant he was personally chosen by king charles

to perform at his coronation. bryn terfel�*s towering presence and booming voice is also effective off stage. he's a big champion of the arts and relishes bringing music to the public. i think we're in a time when lots of cultural institutions — and classical music itself, perhaps — is being called into question. what's the value of it? is it too elitist? and a figure like bryn is what we need — somebody who symbolises, really, the power of communication and music. it's about showing how important music is in all of our lives. he embodies that and that is the most powerful advocacy he can perform for music. everything he does conveys that love of singing, and it's completely infectious. and the fact that he is passing

that on to young singers makes total sense to me because it's an absolutely compelling vision of how to live a musical life. you think we're getting younger audiences into opera houses? definitely, definitely. undoubtedly. and these are the people that you see after giving performances in the stage door. we saw in the run of the barber of seville we had at the royal opera house at covent garden. you could see it. my first opera. i loved it. i thought it was really captivating. i think more young people should see operas. i think it's a great experience. as well as being unbelievably gifted in both the musical- and acting categories, - he really exemplifies how fun it would be to sing at his level. - yes, there's an interest there. they're hungry for entertainment. and it's wonderful to be a part of that as well.

sings in german applause bryn terfel is a welsh icon and a rare talent who cares not only about his success but also the future of opera — an art form that has brought him national and global recognition, and i'm glad he's so optimistic about its enduring appeal.

hello. the certainly are nipped in the air, a chilly breeze.— air, a chilly breeze. let's see what the _ air, a chilly breeze. let's see what the weather _ air, a chilly breeze. let's see what the weather has - air, a chilly breeze. let's see what the weather has in - air, a chilly breeze. let's see | what the weather has in store over the next ten days. here is the outlook. more chilly weather on the way but with high pressure close by, at least over the next few days, the weather will be generally dry and the brightest and warmest of our weather will be further towards the west and i use the word warmest very loosely here. here is the area of high pressure for sunday but notice that the weather front has just stuck in to the north of that high pressure. and here is a jet stream pattern. notice how the jet stream blowing in from the north and dragging in the cold air, especially along

the cold air, especially along the north sea coast. just temporarily some slightly warmer weather there heading particularly to ireland but on the whole, it will stay fairly chilly. now, the outlook for sunday, then, shows thicker cloud and bits and pieces of rain for eastern central and maybe some in scotland and quite cloudy here for many of us but for the rest of the country i think variable amounts of cloud on sunday with the sunniest of the weather out towards the south and the west and noticed that in western parts of northern ireland, it could warm up to about 17 or 18 degrees on the northeast coast, close to ten in that northerly wind. on monday, the high pressure is still with us but further weather fronts crossing the country. weak weather fronts, and they often bring a lot of cloud and some rain for a time would be crossing eastern scotland, northern, central england and maybe making its way towards wealth later in the afternoon. i think for most of us, it will be just a cloudy day with split spots of rain for a time and chilly, typically ten, 11, 12 celsius. the weather further west will certainly be dry before

brighter and drier because we are closer to the centre of high pressure which by tuesday will have drifted out into the atlantic and in its wake, we have a northerly breeze once again, so it's thatjet stream that's dragging in the cold air from the north so, again, on the northeast coast, often cloudy, some showers, chilli, the best of the weather out towards the west. here, temperatures are just about manage the midteens but in newcastle, no higher than nine degrees on tuesday. on tuesday, into wednesday, not an awful lot changes. low pressure tries to speak in but we still have that cold northerly wind —— snake. the chance of showers, almost anywhere on the northeast coast, could be a few showers developing inland and the rest of the weather on the south coast, south—western parts of england here but still, only around 12 or 13 which is below the average for the time of year. towards the end of the week, we consistent showers developing across eastern and central areas of

the uk. some of them could be happy. even a chance of a bit of wintriness particularly across the high hills and the tops of the mountains and no surprise here because of these values, only about nine degrees in newcastle and eastern scotland. how about into next weekend? low pressure will be paying us a visit so rather than the high which is now way out in the atlantic, low pressure will draw in some slightly milder airfrom pressure will draw in some slightly milder air from the south but of course means thicker cloud and occasional showers so we're back to april showers so we're back to april showers by the time we get to the weekend. he is the outlook from friday onwards into the weekend. yes, slightly milder as temperatures are recovering to perhaps 15 or 16 celsius but as a result of that and the low pressure, we will see those april showers developing, so it looks as though we will need our brollies once again. goodbye.

live from washington. this is bbc news. on this vote, the yays are 311, the bill is passed. the us house of representatives passes a long—awaited aid package for ukraine, worth $61 billion. against the backdrop of recent tensions between israel and iran, the bbc investigates a renewed crackdown on women inside the islamic republic. and: 25 years on from the columbine high school shooting, we reflect on the impact of the tragedy.

hello. i'm carl nasman. the us house of representatives has passed a crucial aid bill for ukraine totalling nearly $61 billion. if passed by the senate, the long—awaited funds will provide roughly $23 billion to replenish us weapons, stockpiles and facilities, more than $11 billion to fund current us military operations in the region. and another $14 billion to help ukraine buy advanced weapons systems and other defence equipment. republican house speaker mike johnson — who brought the bill to a vote — said it was the right thing to do. from the capitol, our news correspondent helena humphrey told us more about today's vote. after a rare show of bipartisanship, the us is now one step closer to sending long—awaited aid to the ukraine along with israel and the indo—pacific region after this vote from the us house of representatives. it now heads to the senate. president biden

has called on senators to advanceit has called on senators to advance it swiftly