Mark Le Brocq

As the saying goes, “Shakespeare invented him, Verdi made him immortal” – and, surely, it was Bryn Terfel who defined him. Terfel first sung Falstaff in 1999, and in 2021, the bass-baritone superstar returns once more to the role at Grange Park Opera. In a production by Stephen Medcalf first shown in the 17th century Farnese theatre in Parma in 2011 with designs that are truly Falstaffian including sensational backcloths by Italian supremo Rinaldo Rinaldi.

In 2016, Opera North’s extraordinary journey through Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen came full circle, in a series of six full Ring cycles. Comprising the four operas which make up Wagner’s epic masterpiece, Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, more than 15 unforgettable hours of music and passion are now also available online, in full, for free.