In a perfect prelude to the holiday season, bass-baritone Bryn Terfel presents a magical selection of seasonal works from a candlelit Brecon Cathedral as part of the Met Stars Live in Concert series (filmed in December 2020). He is joined by a stellar group of fellow Welsh musicians: soprano Natalya Romaniw, tenor Trystan Llŷr Griffiths, pianist Jeffrey Howard, harpist Hannah Stone and folk group Calan. Alongside such favourite carols as Silent Night and In the Bleak Midwinter, complete with verses in Welsh, their repertoire also includes excerpts from Wagner’s Tannhäuser and Lerner & Loewe’s film-musical adaptation of The Little Prince, the much-loved traditional Welsh song Ar Hyd y Nos (All Through the Night) and two works by contemporary Welsh composer Robat Arwyn. The perfect setting for this concert with its themes of peace and hope, Brecon Cathedral began life as a Benedictine Priory in 1093, built on the site of an earlier Celtic church. The present building, with its Gothic arches and magnificent stained-glass windows, dates primarily from the thirteenth century.

Robat Arwyn
Guardian Angel
Franz Xaver Gruber
Silent Night
Ariel Ramírez
“El Nacimiento” from Navidad Nuestra
Franz Schubert
Ave Maria
Gustav Holst
In the Bleak Midwinter
Traditional
New Year’s Eve in Caernarfon
Carlos Salzedo
Concert Variations on “O Tannenbaum”
Jester Hairston
Mary’s Little Boy Child
Frederick Loewe
“Little Prince” from The Little Prince
Traditional
Still, still, still
Robat Arwyn
Benedictus
Adolphe Adam
O Holy Night
Ivor Novello
“I Can Give You the Starlight” from The Dancing Years
Traditional
“Ar Hyd y Nos”
Richard Wagner
“O du, mein holder Abendstern” from Tannhäuser
John Francis Wade
O Come, All Ye Faithful

Bryn Terfel bass-baritone
Jeffrey Howard music director, piano
Hannah Stone harp
Natalya Romaniw soprano
Trystan Llŷr Griffiths tenor

Calan
Sam Humphreys guitar/stomp box
Angharad Jenkins fiddle
Bethan Rhiannon accordion/vocals
Patrick Rimes fiddle/whistle/Welsh pipes
Elen Hydref, Dylan Wyn Rowlands additional harps