Bryn Terfel: “These are a few of my favourite things”
The Financial Times magazine How to Spend it recently interviewed Bryn Terfel on what happens in his life when he’s not being a singer. Here are some of his favourite things:
Golf club:
Sunningdale Golf Club, 45 minutes from his home in Kensington.
Lunch spot:
Odette’s in Primrose Hill, run by fellow Welshman Bryn Williams. Beef and lamb especially delicious. To Bibendum in the Fulham Road on a Sunday.
Football team:
Leeds, “Don’t ask me why!”
Cigar shop:
Davidoff in St James’s Street, where he likes “smelling and touching the cigars, looking at cutters and lighters – and probably spending quite a lot of money.”
Wine shop:
Berry Bros & Rudd, again in St James’s Street: “Undoubtedly one of my favourite London establishments.”
Snooker shop:
Parris Cues in Church Vale, “a tiny little shop with a snooker table… once Jimmy White and Tony Knowles walked in; I was so excited. They left with about 12 cues each.”
Musical:
The Book of Mormon. “I’ve seen it three times.”
Arts venues:
The Royal Opera House and London Coliseum: “I’m always going to see colleagues and friends sing or dance. Recently I was lucky enough to sit beside my friend Simon Keenlyside as his wife Zenaida Yanowsky danced Manon, which was incredibly special.”
After-theatre:
The Wolseley in Piccadilly – “Where the welcome is second to none” – or The Club at The Ivy “if I fancy a cocktail”.
Exercise:
Swimming at the David Lloyd Health Club in Kensington.
Cycling ‘pit-stop’:
The Corinthia Hotel in Whitehall Place. “It’s magnificent and serves great cocktails”.
Dinner:
Atul Kochhar’s Benares in Mayfair. “It’s an extravagant place for a curry, but they are beautifully prepared”. And on the way home, “I’ll have a sneak peek at the Bentleys at Jack Barclay, on Berkeley Square.”
Tipple:
Penderyn Whisky, a Welsh whisky brand: “Beautiful with one block of ice.”
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
