my passion with you. so i'm on a mission to find out how opera is trying to attract new audiences and reinvent itself. this time i meet sir antonio pappano in the run—up to the end 0lmert —— he is taking us behind the scenes notjust —— he is taking us behind the scenes not just at london's —— he is taking us behind the scenes notjust at london's old royal opera house, but right back to where it all started back... let me take you to the opera. just outside cardiff, really looking forward to it. can i come along and listen to you do that? of course you could, yeah! oh, thank you! he speaks welsh. what does that mean? see you in wales. 0k, great, see you in wales. he sings. 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, we are in the middle of recording 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, 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, # 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. sings in welsh. 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. she plays the harp. # 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 the 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 a very special performing with her? 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. he sings 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 will develop in the future, but 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 0pera'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 0pera 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 verde, 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 whilst 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 should close this up and protect his modesty! laughter. bryn is keen to encourage a new generation of singers. she sings in welsh. what is it about the welsh and singing? 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 in 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, is 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. they sing in welsh i have 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. applause watching you judging these voices, what do you look for in a voice? well, i — i think, for me, it is the overall quality and how the vowel sounds are created. one of the most key things for me is 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. 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 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. 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 difficult questions about people asking if you have done this or not, not knowing the full story of things that have happened to you. it is water of a duck�*s back, but maybe it's that given swan one lake, peddling like mad... you cope well with pressure, because it is a pressured world, performing at your level. one very famous mezzo 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. 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 is a big champion of the arts, and relishes bringing music 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 the power of communication and music, showing how important music is in all of our lives. he embodies that and that is the most powerful advocacy he could 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 two 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 people that you see after giving performances in the stage door. we saw in the run of the barber of seville, that 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 the musical- and acting categories, he really exemplifies i how fun it would be to sing at his level. j yes, there's an interest there. they're hungry for entertainment. and it's wonderful to be a part of that as well. applause bryn terfel is a welsh icon and a rare talent, who cares not only about his success, but about 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 there. good evening. it's been yet another unsettled weekend of weather with low pressure close by. but there's been some blue skies and sunshine around as well, such as here in dumfries and galloway. also some showers such as these, recorded by a weather watcher in shropshire. and it's been blustery, too, for this time of year, and it does stay unsettled into the start of next week. a wet start for many on monday, but then things will quieten down. so turning drier, more settled and also warmer, especially in the south. this is the satellite picture from earlier on today. you can see various weather fronts just approaching the south west of england and wales. they'll be pushing further northwards through tonight. so bringing some heavy downpours of rain for most. we'll see rain spread into central southern england tonight, pushing northwards across northern england by the time we get to dawn tomorrow, a wet night across wales, mild and muggy underneath this cloud and rain. temperatures in the mid—teens in celsius. across northern ireland, some clear spells, so cooler here and still a scattering of showers across scotland. now on monday, there are met office weather warnings in force across wales and northern england for heavy rain, around 30 to a0 millimetres, possibly higher rainfall totals with any afternoon embedded thunderstorms, they're possible. but it will dry out and brighten up, i think, for wales and for south west england towards the end of the day. still some bright spells across east anglia, sunny spells and showers for northern ireland and scotland. it's still rather windy in the south, but tuesday, a much calmer—looking day of weather. that system has pushed its way northwards and eastwards into scandinavia. it's largely dry, particularly through the morning. some afternoon showers perhaps breaking out for eastern areas of scotland and northeast england. temperatures more widely rising into the low 20s in celsius. and it will feel more pleasant, of course, with those light winds in the best of the sunshine. and then high pressure builds in as we head through wednesday, which will keep us largely dry. still the possibility of some afternoon showers, but it's keeping all of this low pressure out in the atlantic well at bay. so these systems will be stalled. there will be some sunshine developing on wednesday. watch out for some showers developing, particularly towards north sea—facing coasts. and any showers will be quite slow—moving because of the light winds. but it's starting to feel warmer. i think temperatures towards the south of england in particular will rise into the mid—twenties in celsius, cooler towards the north, maybe some showers at times. live from london. this is bbc news. the death toll from wildfires in hawaii edges towards 100 — the state's governor warns to expect many more, and traumatised survivors ask, where is the help? we are on maui web volunteer boats leaving with aid. pressure builds on rishi sunak over small boats crossing crossing the channel after six deaths. labour says people smugglers are "running rings" around government policy. she's one of the most popular and successful musicians in the world — and now, taylor swift is on the curriculum at a university in belgium. hello, i'm monika plaha. thanks forjoining me. we start in hawaii, where the governor is warning that the death toll is likely to rise further following the wildfires on the island of maui. 93 people are now known to have died and hundreds remain unaccounted for, as the inferno swept through the historic town of la haina. so far, only a fraction of the worst—hit area has been searched for bodies. recovery crews are combing through the charred ruins.