Terfel's "Epiphany" is so damn POWERFUL. Like this is such a vocally demanding song, and he just delivers. Loved it!! A Little Priest is completely hilarious as usual. Also Maria is ADORABLE.

Everybody seems to be only talking about the guy who plays Sweeney (both in favor and against), and he's definitely doing well, but Lovett is just perfect! She owns it!

Great to hear a Todd without a bloody American accent on youtube! And the "pipping hot" line was great, Sweeney leading Lovett on perfectly, something I've not seen in any production.

There's an impressive amount of "baritone side-mouth" action here. Loving it

To all the people complaining about Bryn's acting - remember - he's playing to the hall, not to the camera. And if you're saying his voice isn't good... how many of you are actually singers?

8:14 the woman who plays the violin starts laughing 😂

He did so much better here than in 2014

His voice and presence are enormous! His deep rich tones provide us with only the finest of ear porn. But I can't help but feel as if he isn't *really* trying to act. He's a singer of only the highest caliber, but what I see is a great singer singing as himself...Not really feeling a Sweeney here. Still great performance. Love listening to it. I have never "heard" better, but I have "Seen" better. If you get my...drift.

This is one of my favorite performances of all time! This is fabulous! I wish I could have been in the audience.

8:30 Oh Mr. T, you're such a tease.

Bryn Terfel is awesome!

One of my favorite shows. This is so good! Thank you for sharing!

Wonderful! These two did an excellent interpretation of this! So refreshing!

I was in the second row of prommers. at 1.35 when he says finished i could see the spit coming out of his mouth. and at 1.36 he points at me! One of the best proms of this season next to the bremen orchestra playing beethoven 1 & 5 and violin concerto.

One thing that doesn’t come across here: Having heard some of the greatest and biggest voices of the last 40 years, NONE have ever compared to Bryn. In person, the voice is a force of nature. You can FEEL it in the house. The singing here is a phenomenon.

George Hearn is great and he was very suited to the role. However, to tell this guy to "sit down" is like blasphemy! He's one of the great opera singers around, he has an astounding voice, shown much better in other stuff he sings!

Personally George Hearn is my favourite Sweeney, but you have to admit, the power in Bryn's voice is incredible! I love it!

This guy is amazing! However…I can't believe I'm saying this, but he seems too…sophisticated to be Sweeney Todd.

His acting is really good and the anger is really good. I kind of like this version

Not mad about Epiphany, until near the ending, which was lovely. I do like his rendition of A Little Priest... SO MUCH GUSTO!!!

This show needs to go on tour with these two! ^^

It's three straight minutes of a lion roaring! Good god!

I FREAKEN LOVE THIS IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND POWERFUL AND IT REMINDED ME Y I LOVED CHOIR AND SINGING XD

I love this song so much AND BRYN TERFEL IS MY SPIRIT ANIMAL

She's Wonderful!

I think if Bryn were pointing at me between 1:35 and 1:37 I would have shit my pants. =O

love to have seen this

aw god this is epic :D

Am I the only one who thinks that his Epiphany was done better here than in the 2014 version?

ITS MY AUNTIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Anyone else love Bryn's face between 4:45 and 4:48 ?

I am so sick of reading negative comments on these BBC Proms videos. The BBC proms are some of the greatest concerts I have ever seen. Seriously, I don't give a shit about what you think about them, and no one else does either. So if you don't like it, stuff it and let the rest of us enjoy it...It's not very hard to keep it to yourself or talk about it within your own circle.

Bryn should play the Phantom in POTO

Where is the heavenly-pun? ;_;

@oaiturriaga I have to agree, but you have to keep in mind, this is a concert, not a performance of the musical itself. This focuses more on the musical aspect. I have no doubt that if he were performing it in the context of the musical, he'd sacrifice a bit of his vocal perfection for acting perfection and it would be made much more interesting.

First time hearing this

***** Of course musical theatre and opera are different, but to start saying MT is 'more complex' than opera, 'fact', is completely absurd. The subtle vocal and acting nuances that have to be conveyed to a MASSIVE opera house audience, WITHOUT amplification is arguably the hardest feat in singing. There's a reason why opera singers are described as the olympians of voice. Bryn is also, (factually here) one of the best baritones alive, with a voice the size of Wales (figuratively speaking). There's also the 'legit' musical theatre style, which requires a much more specialised, almost bel-canto training- which comes from such vocations as opera (where are you going to learn about 'line' or spin' for example). Opera singers can successfully sing certain musical theatre with the right vocal adaptation. Musical theatre singers, however, will never be able to sing opera.

Good post, agree :)

Amazing, why I have I never heard him sing this until now? I have always loved this song and thought I have heard most of the performances out there. Has he done the full musical, or is this the only time?

lol!!! awesome performance! it's piping hot! haha

Very operatic

They left out the general and his privates! Lol

👼🙌

Epiphany, Epiphany, Epiphany!!!!!!!

@itsacloudylife congrats! She was really good that night!

Does anyone know if this is coming out in DVD? Hey RJ thanks for putting this up - love it

i thought that Michael Ball would never be beaten for me but oh my goodness, he is incredible

Bryn Terfel is great and he looks like Peter Griffin on the Family Guy!!

Fantastic dynamic and creative. Best.

RIP Sondheim.

Jesus christ. Consonants man, consonants.

It's in the eyes. I want more expression and passion in the eyes. This epiphany is a pivotal moment in the show and I don't see it or feel it in his performance. Maybe in a staged performance, without close-ups, it would be more powerful. The voice is perfect... one of the best for this role. I just need more pathos in the face for the camera. Watch Friedman as that is acting with the visage. Opera singers tend to keep large facial movements at a minimum whilst they are singing difficult passages as they can lead to an unwanted effect of tension in the voice... and tension is the voice killer! Nevertheless, as said it's the finest voice for Todd I've ever heard!

@Bremen25 That's in "Sondheim: The Birthday Concert"

came here to cleanse my ears after seeing Aaron Tveit last night 😭

The very best Sweeney Todd--Terfel makes Johnny Deep seem like Tom Sawyer. His almost superhuman rage is so beautifully communicated by Terfel.

7: 23 Best part

Broadway is not ONLY about singing, you know. It,s acting and dancing. Tell me how good of a dancer Terfel is (PS : I'm a fan of Terfel, but also a fan of Broadway).

he's a Baritone in Opera

Bryn, the greatest singer of our generation absolutely devouring this piece.

Terfel's amazing. To be fair, it's hard to judge Friedman because following up on Angela Lansbury is damned hard.

Sweeney isn't suppose to be a baritone. he is a bass-baritone!

where's the one when it was patti lupone and two Sweeney's?

OOPS- Terfel is 1 beat ahead of the orchestra for his opening solo so poor old Mrs Lovett has to glance at the conductor on her vocal entranca at 18 , to silently ask him" Where the hell do I come in with ' Easy now'?" !!

Why did they cut some of A Little Priest?

He can't touch George Hearn.

@milanmezelf That's because Bryn Terfel IS an opera singer. lol

Love Bryn but I'd rather listen to Michael Ball in this role. Michael is doing an amazing job in this role at the moment. I really hope both him and Imelda Staunton receive Olivier awards next year - they both deserve it.

@MrDsmalls unfortunatly it doesn't really work 8 shows a week. singing like that means dropping into the diaphram, slamming it again and again...exhausting. even in the recit hes still right on the voice!

He sounds better here than at the Sweeney Todd performance in the Lincoln Center. Maybe he was ill, because at the Lincoln center production, he nearly flubbed the high F at the end of epiphany

@mattwinkworth Well, maybe "shoddy" is a bit strong, but you don't expect mistakes like that from professional performers when you've paid £40 for a ticket.

This is a little like watching two performances with two different directors mashed together at once. Maria's wonderful and completely barmy. Bryn's just a little... one note in his acting. But wonderful, rich, voice.

I like this version , bu still prefer Johnny Depp's and Helena Bohnam-Carter's

it seems to me he made a specific choice in this performance to go for musical accuracy Over characterization. Remember, he wouldn't have had the rehearsal time of a real production.

Maria Friedman definitely channels Angela Lansbury in all the right ways. Well done.

@ng1493 So what you're saying is that there is not a single person in an entire country who can sing any song out of over ten musicals? You should be careful making a statement like that on here, someone may get offended.

he looks like sylvester stallone

Well, Sweeney IS kind of a crazy sociopath who is simply irritated by her...and Mrs. Lovett IS obsessed with him. According to your reaction he actually put it over quite realistically=y!

*headdesk* He can sing Wotan, but he can't manage Sweeney Todd? Yeaaaah,...lol.

But the acting is great!

F this go gorge hearn

Personally I think he has too much an opera voice, an di know its not the actual show, but it doesn't work as well as George or even Johnny. Still really good though

that's your opinion, mine is different...

narrator from joseph movie

Maria is FANTASTIC! Bryn on the other hand...

yes, he does have a very powerful voice, however personally I don't feel it is suited to the role, I believe, it needs to be a little less polished, but that may just be me :)

holy shit did he ever play sweeny todd?

He's a couple of beats late coming in at the beginning, correcting himself at 00:30. I know it's super-anal to point it out, but it is irritating. I saw them at RFH do the whole thing in concert and Terfel/Friedman were shoddy. She forgot a whole verse of "Wait", and they got out of time and lyrics wrong during "A Little Priest". Shame when there was such a wonderfully rehearsed chorus and orchestra.

He’s good, but he can’t top Timothy Nolen

It's not that he can't act, he's just very general with his actions instead of being specific. He is capable of specificity, his Don Giovanni for instance is pretty specific. As another note, I love George Hearn as Sweeny but if we're talking pure musicality Bryn runs circles around him in my opinion. That's ok though because George Hearn allowed things to affect him. Any man who experiences the dark shit in this show and not have it do weird things to his voice is a god.

If they're at a Sondheim concert... they really should sing all the Sondheim lyrics!

@FantasiaMagia ROFL XD

@TheMusicmanMB I agree that the proms are wonderful. But I also think you're confusing youtube comments with a fascist state...

I don't think Bryn Terfel's style of singing really fits this part. He tends to hold on to the lines like he is singing Mozart. This is Sondheim, he needs to sing it as though it were almost a conversation. As much as I like Bryn Terfel, we just finished Sweeney Todd at the university I go to and the guy who played Sweeney there was much better. Plus Sweeney should never be sung Bel canto, it just doesn't work for the character, it sounds to fake in this Opera/musical.

Respectively, you are incorrect on MANY levels.

I dont like the way this guy sings sweeneys part but its my opinion the way he accents his words dont fit the part and sound kinda of funny considering the emotional stand point

I love Bryn Terfel, but I don't think this is a good role for him. While Sweeney Todd is an opera, you don't need a classically trained opera singer to perform it. His voice is more suited to Don Giovanni and La Triviata. Sweeney requires a voice with more clarity and a greater emphasis on the acting and the meaning of phrases than what was portrayed. It is a staple of Broadway because it does better with a singer trained in musical theatre. Personally, I think someone like Brian Stokes Mitchell or Anthony Warlow could do better.

I love Bryn Terfel and think he sings it awesomely but I think Sweeney needs a less awesome voice if that makes sense, Johnny Depp did it well because he's got a breaking voice...

Bryn Terfel should be a perfect choice to play Count Krolock in Dance of the Vampires.

It's not even very accurate to say that he's not specific, he does however generate things that he doesn't necessarily get from his partner.

This is better than other versions I've seen, but I'm convinced the Brits can't properly do Sondheim. But that's okay because Americans can't do Rice or Lloyd Webber.