It’s a long way from the Urdd Eisteddfod to the Metropolitan Opera House but Bryn Terfel has made the journey seem almost effortless.

As he readily acknowledges, those early performances in tents around Wales provided a matchless grounding for the young singer. They took him to London and the Guildhall School of Music where he was the outstanding student of his year.

The musical public at large caught their first glimpse of this future superstar at the 1989 Cardiff Singer of the World competition - though he came second to another baritone, the Russian Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

Welsh National Opera snapped up Terfel for his professional debut as Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte, quickly followed by the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Such was Terfel’s immediate impact that his life now became a whirlwind

of international touring and recording engagements. During the ‘nineties

he performed at just about every major opera house and music festival while releasing numerous works on the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label.

When his reputation in the world of “serious” music was well established, he travelled down more populist avenues. In 1996 he sang on American television’s David Letterman Show and released an album of Rogers and Hammerstein favourites.

The mainstream media generally has room for one operatic superstar at a time. It’s a position Luciano Pavarotti has occupied for years and as that great man moves towards retirement, Terfel has slipped onto his throne. No Welsh singer since Sir Geraint Evans has enjoyed such success.

If his Welshness were not fundamental to his identity and perception of himself, it’s doubtful Bryn Terfel would spend as much time here as he still manages to do. He turns up as patron or participant at countless events across Wales.

Only one singer can lead the crowd in Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau at a football international and headline the opening night of the Cardiff’s highbrow Millenium Centre. That singer is Bryn Terfel.