0:00:10 > 0:00:15You come in here about an hour and a half before the curtain goes up.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21And as you're making up, you gradually feel
0:00:22 > 0:00:27that you're getting into the part, into the part of Leporello.
0:00:30 > 0:00:36It's surprising how makeup and wigs help to create that character.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Sir Geraint Evans achieved international fame,
0:00:40 > 0:00:42not only for his outstanding voice,
0:00:42 > 0:00:44but also for his ability to enter into a role
0:00:44 > 0:00:47as easily as he could slip into a costume.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50You see how it alters?
0:00:50 > 0:00:52SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:01:12 > 0:01:14He's one of the leading baritones of our day,
0:01:14 > 0:01:16and perhaps of any day.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19His musicianship is magnificent.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23He's a superb comic artist, which often goes with sloppy musicality.
0:01:23 > 0:01:24Not with Geraint.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28He is very much a star, but he is not a prima donna at all.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32I have never heard anybody tell any story about Geraint
0:01:32 > 0:01:35to his discredit in a way of showing off,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38demanding impossible things or tantrums backstage,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41which, as you know, the opera is absolutely full of.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46He has a personality so well liked by everybody
0:01:46 > 0:01:50that they will go through thick and thin for him
0:01:50 > 0:01:52to do what he wants them to do.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56As an aspiring young singer who grew up just a few miles from here,
0:01:56 > 0:01:58Sir Geraint Evans was an inspiration to me.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01He was living proof that a valleys boy
0:02:01 > 0:02:04could become an international star in the opera world.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08His talent blazed a trail from Covent Garden to La Scala
0:02:08 > 0:02:09and the New York Met.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12But it was here that the first spark was ignited,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15in the mining village of Cilfynydd.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20Geraint Evans was born in 1922 in William Street, Cilfynydd,
0:02:20 > 0:02:22just a few miles from Pontypridd.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Following the death of his mother when he was just 18 months old,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29Geraint was raised by his grandparents.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33It wasn't easy raising a child in South Wales in the '20s.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38I was born in the time when things were very rough
0:02:38 > 0:02:40when the strikes were on.
0:02:40 > 0:02:46And, er, the difficulty of bringing up children,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49of having things for them to wear.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52In fact, I remember, I can just remember
0:02:52 > 0:02:56going to the soup kitchens in the chapel.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59And life was tough.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02But our parents struggled
0:03:02 > 0:03:06and gave us all and everything they could.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11Because the important thing for them was that we had a good education.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Geraint's father was a miner and amateur conductor
0:03:14 > 0:03:18who would lead Pontypridd Male Voice choir.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22For Geraint, music was part and parcel of life in Cilfynydd.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24What's your first memory of singing?
0:03:24 > 0:03:26It's difficult to know.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30I think one is on... One had to recite at the age of...
0:03:30 > 0:03:34well, as soon as one was able to speak. Say, three years of age.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39And one also sang folk songs at the age of three.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44You had to learn folk songs, hymns, tunes, anthems, you know.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Geraint loved music from an early age.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50His grandparents didn't own a gramophone,
0:03:50 > 0:03:54so he listened to records at the home of friend, Brenda Davies,
0:03:54 > 0:03:57who was later to play an important role in his life.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01We were born just a few doors away from each other.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05As children, you saw each other constantly.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Did you say it there...?
0:04:07 > 0:04:11No. She didn't look at me then. She didn't look at me at all.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Let's hear what Brenda's got to say.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16I tried to get him married off to lots of people.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18He spent a lot of time in our house.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22If he'd quarrelled with a girlfriend, he'd come in.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25And I'd say, "Make it up. Don't be so miserable."
0:04:25 > 0:04:27After leaving school,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Geraint found work in a ladies' outfitters in Pontypridd.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34This town, which gave birth to the Welsh national anthem,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36was proud of its musical heritage.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Its numerous amateur societies provided fertile ground
0:04:39 > 0:04:42for the development of Geraint's talents.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Like most people in Wales we did amateur dramatics,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48amateur musical societies, the amateur-operatic society.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50I was in them all.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52A seed has to be planted.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56Now, without the eisteddfods, without the amateur societies,
0:04:56 > 0:04:58where does the seed start?
0:04:58 > 0:05:00Usually, it's somebody saying to someone else,
0:05:00 > 0:05:05"You have got a good voice. You should do something about it".
0:05:05 > 0:05:08And it was a former opera singer from Pontypridd
0:05:08 > 0:05:10who first spotted Geraint's potential.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14There was a wonderful man in Pontypridd
0:05:14 > 0:05:17called Bert Gregory Evans
0:05:17 > 0:05:20who had been the old Caruso many years ago.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22DEEP VOICE: He always spoke like that.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25He had a waxed moustache. Very elegant.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27And he said to my father,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30"I think that boy ought to go in for singing".
0:05:31 > 0:05:33But my father had noticed this, anyway.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38So eventually I went and had singing lessons
0:05:38 > 0:05:39to Idloes Owen in Cardiff.
0:05:39 > 0:05:45And I didn't know, I didn't know until a few years later
0:05:45 > 0:05:50that my father, who was out of work at that time,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53borrowed money for me to go and have singing lessons.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Every Thursday afternoon after early closing at the shop,
0:05:56 > 0:06:00Geraint would catch the train to Cardiff to study with Idloes Owen.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03These lessons helped prepare him for his biggest role yet.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07At the tender age of 17, Geraint performed the title role
0:06:07 > 0:06:10in his chapel's production of Mendelssohn's Elijah.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13It was performed in character and in full costume
0:06:13 > 0:06:16here at the old Cilfynydd Working Men's hall.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18The concert was sold out.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22It was so well received that an extra performance was put on.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26Just as Geraint was starting to make a name for himself, war broke out.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28He volunteered for the RAF.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32He was sent off to France just a few weeks after D-Day.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34Shortly after the liberation of Brussels,
0:06:34 > 0:06:36Geraint was given his first pass home.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40One evening, when Geraint was home on leave,
0:06:40 > 0:06:44he went dancing with a group of friends that included Brenda Davies,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47who lived just down the street here at number 78.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50It was a miserable night and they all got soaked.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54But later, Brenda and Geraint sat up and talked the night away.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57As the hours flew by, something changed between them.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59After returning to his unit,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03Geraint began to realise that Brenda was the girl for him.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05His future was falling into place.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09It was at this point that his career took a decisive turn,
0:07:09 > 0:07:13with his transfer to the allied forces' radio service.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16I know war is a terrible thing, but it did one or two people good.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20It's difficult to say that it did some people good.
0:07:20 > 0:07:27But I was, in '46, working in the British Forces' Network in Hamburg,
0:07:27 > 0:07:32and I went to a German singer who taught me to sing, Theo Hermann.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36And, er... The type of man who used to slap me if I was wrong
0:07:36 > 0:07:39and kiss me if I was right, which did me the world of good.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Was he the inspiration?
0:07:41 > 0:07:46Also, my colleagues at Hamburg, at the British Forces Network.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50They said, "You must go in for this, seriously".
0:07:50 > 0:07:54After he was demobbed, with the help of a grant for ex-servicemen,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58Geraint was accepted at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02He hadn't been there long before his old teacher reappeared in his life
0:08:02 > 0:08:03and changed it for good.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07Hermann heard that Covent Garden were looking for a bass.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09Geraint auditioned, and two days later
0:08:09 > 0:08:13he became a member of the Covent Garden Opera Company,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15earning the princely sum of £12 a week.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19It was the start of an association that would last a lifetime.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23Geraint's first performance at Covent Garden
0:08:23 > 0:08:25was in Wagner's Die Meistersinger.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27A big contingent of family and friends
0:08:27 > 0:08:31made the trip from Cilfynydd to London for the opening night
0:08:31 > 0:08:34including Brenda Davies, soon to become Mrs Brenda Evans.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Do you remember the first time you stepped onstage?
0:08:38 > 0:08:41- Well, I remember being pushed on. - Me, too.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44I remember doing this and singing a few lines.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Only a few lines, I had to sing.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50I was an old man, a night watchman walking across.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54And having sung my lines, I was still walking, and, er,
0:08:54 > 0:08:58before I knew it, somebody touched me on the shoulder and said,
0:08:58 > 0:09:03"You'd better stop or you'll be in Bow Street police station".
0:09:03 > 0:09:06I was actually walking through the props department.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09No matter where Geraint's career took him,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden was always his home.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16He said of it, "This is where I was brought up.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18"This is where I was born as a singer."
0:09:19 > 0:09:22I remember, er,...
0:09:22 > 0:09:27..going with an old opera singer, Percy Hemings,
0:09:27 > 0:09:31upstairs to one of the rooms in the Opera House.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35He said to me first,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39"Geraint, I think you need a little bit of polishing here and there.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41"You're a rough diamond."
0:09:41 > 0:09:43Which was quite true, after all.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45Damn it, I played rugby...
0:09:46 > 0:09:48..in Wales there.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54I sorted out my differences up the common or up the mountain.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58So the environment of that time
0:09:58 > 0:10:03possibly wasn't suitable for the environment of the Opera House.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Anyway, I went up to the room with Percy Hemings and he said,
0:10:06 > 0:10:11"I want you now to start basic ballet movements".
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Well, you can imagine my feeling. Oh, my goodness me.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21So here I was, starting doing this...
0:10:23 > 0:10:25..and this.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27As if I had a silk scarf in my hand.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29And my feet movement as well.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34I was very nervous because I made sure the doors were locked.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38I couldn't stand the feeling that my friends would see me doing this.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42But really and truly, it paid off dividends.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47By the time Geraint appeared in The Magic Flute at Covent Garden in '53,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50the effects of all that polishing were clear to see.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53The rough diamond from the valleys now sparkled
0:10:53 > 0:10:55as the comic bird-catcher, Papageno.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59SINGS IN GERMAN
0:11:41 > 0:11:45The parts that Geraint played at the Royal Opera House
0:11:45 > 0:11:48stand as a testament to his impressive dramatic range.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51While he was noted as a singer of Mozart
0:11:51 > 0:11:53for roles such as Papageno in The Magic Flute,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Leporello in Don Giovanni
0:11:55 > 0:11:58and Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01he was equally at home with Bizet, Verdi or Britten.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04The crowning achievement of Geraint's early career
0:12:04 > 0:12:06came not at Covent Garden,
0:12:06 > 0:12:08but in the heart of the Sussex countryside.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28In 1957, Geraint was invited to play the role of Falstaff
0:12:28 > 0:12:31at the world-renowned Glyndebourne Festival.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35This, more than any other role, would define his career.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38But it would take a lot of hard work and unusual inspiration
0:12:38 > 0:12:42to create the larger-than-life character of Sir John Falstaff.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45The difficulty I had,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47and I experienced in the early rehearsals,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51was how to walk like a big man.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53And how a big man moved his hands,
0:12:53 > 0:12:58or where his hands dropped at the side of his body.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01My eldest son, who was then two or something like that,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05was still at the end of the nappy period.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09And I saw him trotting along one day and I thought, "My goodness".
0:13:09 > 0:13:11He was very well built for a child.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13A bonny, bouncing baby.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18And there was this nappy wrapped around, you know.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20And I thought, "My goodness".
0:13:20 > 0:13:22So I watched him for a while.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27So, indeed, the last few rehearsals that I...
0:13:27 > 0:13:30..that I did before putting on the costume,
0:13:30 > 0:13:34I worked with a blanket between my legs.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37I was very sore, but it was well worth it.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42Because I experienced the walk of this big man.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Geraint made his debut as Falstaff on a hot June evening.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23When he took his final bow,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26encased in foam padding and dripping with sweat,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30he was applauded not only by the audience, but the chorus, orchestra
0:14:30 > 0:14:33and his fellow principles.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36He said, "It was something I shall never forget.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39"The sort of thing every performer dreams of getting."
0:14:39 > 0:14:41There was more to come.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46In 1960, Geraint was invited to sing Mozart's Figaro at La Scala,
0:14:46 > 0:14:48the spiritual home of Italian opera.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51It was the first time in 35 years
0:14:51 > 0:14:53that a British singer sang a lead role
0:14:53 > 0:14:55at Milan's world-famous opera house.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00A group of stagehands were overheard talking about Geraint.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02They were puzzled.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05This man sang Italian extremely well,
0:15:05 > 0:15:06he even looked Italian.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Yet, with a name like Evans,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11he didn't come from anywhere near Milan.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14After a heated discussion, they came to the obvious conclusion.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16He must be Sicilian.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Playing Figaro of Falstaff, Geraint was one of the first performers
0:16:06 > 0:16:10to bring a sense of dramatic characterization to opera.
0:16:14 > 0:16:19He'd always held an ambition to pass on something of what he'd learnt
0:16:19 > 0:16:23during his years on stage to the next generation.
0:16:23 > 0:16:30What I would like to do is to teach young singers roles,
0:16:30 > 0:16:35individual teaching, not so much singing, teaching of singing
0:16:35 > 0:16:37but teach them a part.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40Geraint got the chance to do just that in 1967
0:16:40 > 0:16:44when he was invited to give a master class in front of BBC Wales cameras
0:16:44 > 0:16:47as part of a summer school at Dinefwr Castle.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52# The king appoints you
0:16:53 > 0:16:55# Ambassador in London
0:16:56 > 0:16:57# I go as...
0:16:59 > 0:17:03You see, I've got a feeling.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08The king appoints you ambassador in London.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11I was the courier.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14My Susanna!
0:17:15 > 0:17:16What game is he playing?
0:17:17 > 0:17:19How dare you?
0:17:19 > 0:17:22This is the beginning of the 'se vuol ballare'.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25You've got to feel this leading up to the aria.
0:17:25 > 0:17:30Se vuol... This is what I'm after, ladies and gentlemen.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35I'm going to make the count jump as high as I can make him do it.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Ptish!
0:17:37 > 0:17:40# Se vuol ballare
0:17:40 > 0:17:43# Signor contino
0:17:43 > 0:17:48# Se vuol ballare, signor contino
0:17:48 > 0:17:53# Il chitarrino le suonero...#
0:17:53 > 0:17:56I know the Italian gives that...
0:17:58 > 0:18:01I know you can't do it English as good as that
0:18:01 > 0:18:03but it can be done.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08# If you are after a little amusement
0:18:08 > 0:18:14# If you are after a little amusement
0:18:14 > 0:18:19# You may go dancing but I'll play the tune
0:18:19 > 0:18:24# You may go dancing I'll play the tune
0:18:24 > 0:18:26# Yes, I'll play the tune
0:18:26 > 0:18:29# Yes! I'll play the tune.#
0:18:29 > 0:18:32You needn't say any more. You've said it all.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36Geraint's contribution to opera as a mentor and performer
0:18:36 > 0:18:38was recognised soon afterwards.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40In 1969 he was knighted.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44No matter how high he rose during his career
0:18:44 > 0:18:48when he wanted to come back down to earth, it was to Wales he returned.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Although Geraint was born and brought up in Cilfynydd
0:18:54 > 0:18:56his family's roots lay in the West.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59All of his grandparents had been Cardies
0:18:59 > 0:19:03and it was in Aberaeron that he found peace during this period
0:19:03 > 0:19:06far from the demands of his working life.
0:19:06 > 0:19:12I actually came about eight years ago on holiday with my family here.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16In a way I stumbled across my childhood again
0:19:16 > 0:19:19because I used to come down here as a boy...
0:19:21 > 0:19:25..seven, eight years of age for holidays.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30I felt a terrific draw towards the place.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34My children loved it down here.
0:19:34 > 0:19:35My wife loves it down here.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42I thought, "If I've got to retire, this is where I'll retire to."
0:19:43 > 0:19:45With a house on Aberaeron harbour
0:19:45 > 0:19:49it would have been crime not to buy a boat to go with it.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53I have a boat which is very suitable for this harbour.
0:19:53 > 0:19:58When I'm out there I can just relax, forget about everything
0:19:58 > 0:20:02and sing if I want to. If I'm not singing well, it doesn't matter.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06- We all join in.- There's not a critic within 100 miles.- That's true!
0:20:06 > 0:20:09Unless they're damn good swimmers.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14Back in the real world Sir Geraint schooled young singers
0:20:14 > 0:20:18in roles such as that of Don Giovanni's manservant, Laparello,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22seen here reciting a catalogue of his master's sexual conquests.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24# But in Spain here...#
0:20:24 > 0:20:26OK, if you're going to do this.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30If he does this, now this is your chance for a good luck.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32GASPS
0:20:32 > 0:20:33He'll see you looking.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35So if you drop this...
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Give me a "Here is Italy" or something.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45# Here is Italy Six hundred and forty
0:20:47 > 0:20:50# Next comes Germany More than two hundred
0:20:53 > 0:20:56# France and Turkey Have each over ninety
0:20:56 > 0:21:00# Oooh but in Spain
0:21:01 > 0:21:07# But in Spain here, One thousand and three
0:21:08 > 0:21:10# Thousand and three
0:21:11 > 0:21:13# Thousand and three.#
0:21:13 > 0:21:15- OK?- Yes.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19As a student at Trinity College of Music
0:21:19 > 0:21:23I was lucky enough to take part in a masterclass given by Sir Geraint.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26It was an experience I'll never forget.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30I was playing Mozart's Figaro, one of Sir Geraint's signature roles
0:21:30 > 0:21:34and I remember him demonstrating the female role of Marcellina.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38He had no costume of make-up, he simply picked up a walking stick
0:21:38 > 0:21:42made an entrance and he was the crotchety old woman.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46But as convincing Sir Geraint might be without costumes or props
0:21:46 > 0:21:48with them he was something else.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53Wardrobe and make-up were central to the way that he built a character
0:21:53 > 0:21:56as when he played the poor soldier Wozzeck
0:21:56 > 0:21:59in Berg's opera of the same name.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02I hate wearing new costumes, brand new costumes.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07I feel it is necessary to wear a costume that has been lived in.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11I start from the feet up.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15The voice comes from the feet, everything comes from the feet.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17Your movement, everything.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20I always think that whatever part I'm doing
0:22:20 > 0:22:23I must have the right pair of shoes.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25If I'm doing a certain part, tight shoes.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28If I'm doing Wozzeck, big clomping shoes.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30It creates the character.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33Have you got long johns?
0:22:33 > 0:22:37The physicality of Sir Geraint's characterizations
0:22:37 > 0:22:40was plain to see in parts such as the ageing bachelor
0:22:40 > 0:22:43in Donizetti's opera, Don Pasquale.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48SINGS IN GERMAN
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Despite his robust performances,
0:23:29 > 0:23:33Sir Geraint faced health problems during the late 1970s.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36In 1979 during rehearsals at Covent Garden
0:23:36 > 0:23:39he suffered a blocked artery.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42I fought hard for about 10 minutes, really.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46I think if I hadn't been a singer
0:23:46 > 0:23:49with the art of breathing in various places,
0:23:49 > 0:23:53I don't think I'd be here talking to you now.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56By the 1980s, Sir Geraint could boast a career
0:23:56 > 0:23:59that spanned five decades stretching all the way back
0:23:59 > 0:24:03to his first performance as the Night Watchman in 1947.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07He'd always vowed he'd bow out of opera while at the top of his game.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09He now felt that time had come.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13I don't enjoy it so much now because it's getting harder.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18It's like an athlete, it's like a rugby player, soccer player
0:24:18 > 0:24:23that when they come to a certain age to get down to the end of the field
0:24:23 > 0:24:25it seems twice as long these days.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29That's what's happening now. It happens to us all.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31This is my last season here.
0:24:31 > 0:24:38I regret in a way that it is my last but all good things come to an end.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43I feel I'd rather finish on top rather than deteriorate
0:24:43 > 0:24:49to an extent that one feels sorry for that fellow on the stage and
0:24:49 > 0:24:53"I remember he used to be not too bad
0:24:53 > 0:24:55"but now he's no damn good at all."
0:24:56 > 0:25:01In 1984 Sir Geraint gave his final performance at Covent Garden.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05The audience here representing tens of thousands of opera lovers
0:25:05 > 0:25:09came to say thank you and farewell to a man
0:25:09 > 0:25:12that's been a pillar of Covent Garden since the War.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Sir Geraint Evans is loved as much as he's admired not just here
0:25:16 > 0:25:20but at scores of opera houses around the world.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23This evening, as the most celebrated quack doctor in opera
0:25:23 > 0:25:26he rounded off a career that started 36 years ago.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:25:40 > 0:25:43When the opera drew to a close about an hour or so ago
0:25:43 > 0:25:47and the curtain fell, there was a glorious uproar.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
0:25:57 > 0:26:00The ovation went on for minute after minute.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03We were saying thank you for a life's work.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10Inevitably Sir Geraint had to say something to the audience
0:26:10 > 0:26:13he never let down in nearly four decades.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20So much music has passed over the last 36 years for me.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22It's gone so quickly.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25And one of the...
0:26:28 > 0:26:33One of the things that have moved me a lot over the last few weeks
0:26:33 > 0:26:37of having letters from parents, grandparents
0:26:37 > 0:26:44saying that they hope to bring their grandchildren or their children here
0:26:44 > 0:26:46over the last seven performances.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48That to me is success.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53And finally the moment that really brought the tears.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56The orchestra struck up the Welsh national anthem
0:26:56 > 0:26:59and soloists, chorus and audience joined in this tribute
0:26:59 > 0:27:01to Wales' great son.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03CHEERING
0:27:03 > 0:27:07A life that had brought such joy to so many people came to an end
0:27:07 > 0:27:10on the 19th September 1992.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15The Welsh opera singer, Sir Geraint Evans,
0:27:15 > 0:27:20has died in hospital in Aberystwyth after suffering a heart attack.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24It seems strangely appropriate that when I heard the sad news
0:27:24 > 0:27:28of Sir Geraint's death, I was in my dressing room in an opera house.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32I was in Seattle, about to go on stage to make my US debut
0:27:32 > 0:27:35as Rossini's Figaro in The Barber of Seville.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37There I was about to play this character
0:27:37 > 0:27:41whose name had become synonymous with that of Sir Geraint.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44As I waited in the wings I took a final moment
0:27:44 > 0:27:48to dedicate my performance to the memory of a unique character
0:27:48 > 0:27:51whose voice will echo through time as long as men sing.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:28:33 > 0:28:35Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd