That's the kind of Jekyll-and-Hyde character I want to play

Bryn Terfel

He served his apprenticeship in the roles of Mazetto and Leporello before starring as the ageing libertine in productions in Paris and New York.

Terfel is also pleased to lead a strong Welsh contingent with Robert Lloyd as the Commendatore and Rebecca Evans as Zerlina.

He said he plays Don Giovanni as a man whose powers of sexual conquest are waning.

"His sexual virility has come to an end - I put all my efforts into having a Don Giovanni that really fails from the moment you hear those chromatic chords in the overture.

Bryn Terfel has a powerful physical presence

"His downfall is there in front of everybody's eyes - that's the kind of Jekyll-and-Hyde character I want to play on the stage."

Bryn Terfel admits that having the powerful stature of a rugby player means that he cannot play the shrinking violet.

"You have to play it to your physicality - people might describe me as a number eight, who might play in the back of the scrum.

"I'm a big fellow so I have to use this height.

"But also I have this beautiful little Zerlina - Rebecca Evans from Wales.

"She is really tiny so we can really play with that difference in height."

Rebecca Evans plays a peasant girl whose purity attracts Don Giovanni.

She believes that the female characters add some light to a very dark production.

Rebecca Evans enjoys working with Bryn Terfel

Like the rest of the cast she admits she is physically overawed by Terfel's Giovanni.

"I am a physical foil but I think out of the three women I become the strongest, which is very interesting as I'm the tiniest as well," she said.

"But I'm absolutely opposite to him."

For Bryn Terfel, it is a pleasure to return to the Royal Opera House, now fully re-opened following a period of major refurbishment.

"When I opened the Opera House with Falstaff (in December 1999) nothing was finished, only the performing spaces and the opera house itself.

"But now to see it in its glory ... the technical capabilities we are tasting now ... in the next ten years I think productions will become very exciting in this opera house.

"I'm glad I'm a part of it."

Don Giovanni can be seen at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, until 28 February 2002.