In the UK, ITV recently broadcast a series called Britain’s got Talent. The series was nothing special, but it did throw up an unusual winner for such shows : an amateur opera singer.

Paul Potts, age 36, a mobile phone salesman from Port Talbot in South Wales (where else for an opera singer?), inevitably clinched his victory with a spirited performance of Puccini’s Nessun Dorma.

But how good is he? That’s not so easy to judge.

As is normal for such shows, the audience was encouraged to applaude every high note and familiar phrase. The judging panel comprised the usual suspects of light-entertainment producers, a former tabloid editor and an actress. The singer was also helped by amplification in the studio, so the strength of his voice was not tested. It’s possible that at Covent Garden or La Scala, he wouldn’t be heard at the back of the auditorium.

His voice reminded me of a young Harry Seccombe, a much-loved Welsh comedian who sang a bit of the heavy stuff.

Not surprisingly, Paul Potts first sang opera at the age of 28 for a karaoke competition where he dressed up as Pavarotti.

ITV says, “He went on to perform in Barrymore’s My Kind Of Music (1999). The money he won from the show (£8000) along with his savings was spent on attending various training courses in Italy. From his Italian opera class he was selected to sing in a master class for Pavarotti and Katia Ricciarelli – who he says were very impressed. Paul reckons he’s spent £20,000 in total to get to where he is today.”

Paul has performed in four semi professional operas in the UK and some concerts. His proudest performance was with the Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert in front of 15,000 people.

A motorcycle accident is reckoned to have held him back from reaching his full potential.

Of all operatic arias, the one that truly escaped the clutches of the aficionado, and became a popular favourite, was Puccini’s dramatic song from Turandot, Nessun Dorma.

Although it has remained a classic of “easy listening” radio, it achieved pop status by being the theme for the 1990 World Cup in Italy, when it was memorably sung by Luciano Pavarotti, still in his pomp. It has also appeared in modern films, like Toys, The Witches of Eastwick, and an array of others.

The aria translates as, “And None Shall Sleep”. It was part of Giancomo Puccini’s last opera, Turandot, which remained unfinished. It was premiered in 1926 at La Scala, Milan.

Puccini nearly died in a car crash in 1904 as a result of his passion for fast cars. He had already completed the works by which he is best known : La Boheme, Tosca and Madame Butterfly.

Nessun Dorma is from the final act of Turandot. Other parts were in sketch form only and were completed by composer, Franco Alfano.

Puccini was fighting throat cancer, caused by heavy cigar smoking, while writing Turandot. Despite the use of radiotherapy — then a new technique — Puccini died of a heart attack from complications on November 29, 1924.

His work lives on, however, and Nessun Dorma is being played somewhere on the world’s radio stations round the clock.

Adapted from information given in Weekend Magazine.

A British newspaper, The Mail on Sunday, has listed the top ten opera albums “you must own”, as compiled by Eugene Costello.

Apart from #1, there’s no indication of the version or artists involved, so it’s a rather thin exercise. Nevertheless, for what it’s worth here is the list, with my own modifications:

1. The Ring Wagner. Version: Sir Georg Solti [Excellent choice]
2. La Traviata Verdi.
3. La Boheme Puccini.
4. Madame Butterfly Puccini.
5. Carmen Bizet.
6. Don Giovanni Mozart.
7. Peter Grimes Britten.
8. The Barber of Seville Rossini.
9. The Marriage of Figaro Mozart.
10. Rigoletto Verdi.

Well, there you have it, a goodly list. But I would leave out Peter Grimes and The Barber of Seville and promote Tosca by Puccini, and Fidelio by Beethoven.

But, above all, I would include my favourite opera of all: Wagner’s Parsival, which, in my view, tops anything in range, except maybe Puccini at his very best.

And I would also find room for Richard Strauss’s masterpiece, Der Rosenkavalier, which rather makes a mess of Costello’s efforts.

It’s all a matter of taste, of course. What’s your top ten operas?

The Welsh opera superstar, Bryn Terfel, has triumphed in Covent Garden’s new Jonathan Kent production of Puccini’s Tosca. Critic David Mellor called the performance “the best Scarpia I have seen in the theatre.” He was more critical though of the other star of the night, Angela Gheorghiu.

“Bryn doesn’t see his talent as a reason to puff himself up like some artists. But I’ll come to Angela Gheorghiu later. Off-stage, he simply reverts to being the Welsh countryman who likes nothing more than to live the simple life with his family on his North Wales farm.”

And the “divine” Angela? “Even [she] mostly seemed to meet Kent’s requirements, although hers, after all the hype, was a disappointing evening. Tosca is a spoilt, wilful diva, which, on the face of it, shouldn’t have posed Miss Gheorghiu too many problems on the acting front. But hers is a sketchy assumption and, more fatally, her voice is too small for the part.”

Ouch! But a good Tosca overall.