Master of the bel canto repertoire Barry Banks debuts as Arnold in Rossini’s final opera, Guillaume Tell, acknowledged as one of the most taxing tenor roles ever written.

This new production for Welsh National Opera, directed by David Pountney, opens in Cardiff on 12 September and marks Banks’ first return to the company in 20 years, which was the scene of some of his earliest successes in operas by Donizetti, Rossini and Bellini.