Born in Cilfynydd, near Pontypridd, Sir Geraint's work took him around the world.
He was surrounded by music from birth. His father ran the Pontypridd Male Voice Choir and his mother, who died when he was a boy, was also a singer. The young Geraint was a talented pianist and violinist, and also sang in local productions.
He left school at 14 and got a job as a window-dresser in a ladies clothes shop in Pontypridd. He carried on performing as an amateur until the outbreak of the Second World War.
Evans originally joined the RAF but ended up in the music department of the British Forces Network, performing regularly on the radio. The Austrian bass singer Theo Hermann heard him and gave him lessons.
It was through Hermann's contacts that Geraint Evans got an audition at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on his return.
He joined the company in 1947, and after starting in smaller roles he quickly progressed to perform Figaro when he was only 26. Many other character baritone roles soon followed, and with them his increasing fame. Many consider his greatest role to be that of Verdi's Falstaff which he sang in opera houses across the world, complete with 30 lbs of foam padding!
Other favourites included Don Pasquale, Figaro, Beckmesser, Leporello and Dulcamara.
La Scala Debut
Another defining moment came in 1960 when Evans was asked to perform Figaro at La Scala in Milan, under the baton of the great Herbert von Karajan. He was the first British singer to have performed at La Scala in 35 years.
In March 1964, he travelled to New York for another debut - this time at The Met, in a production of Falstaff directed by Zeffirelli. The conductor was Leonard Bernstein and the audience response was phenomenal.
Vienna and Salzburg, San Francisco and Buenos Aires beckoned and, at a time when air travel was rather less common than today, Geraint Evans became one of the very first international opera star jet-setters.
He married Brenda, a schoolteacher who was also born in William Street, Cilfynydd. They lived mainly in London but 1960s, they also bought a holiday home in Aberaeron in Ceredigion, where Sir Geraint could pursue one of his favourite pastimes - sailing.
Aberaeron Retreat
Geraint Evans started to retire in 1982 - and during the extended period of farewell performances he was diagnosed as diabetic. This forced him to make major changes to his lifestyle, although he continued to perform occasionally until around 1984 when he made his last appearance at Covent Garden in Donizettis L'Elisir D'Amore.
With his wife Brenda, he moved permanently to Aberaeron after retiring but he was still very active - he published his autobiography A Knight At The Opera in 1984 and carried on as a director of HTV Wales which he'd helped found in 1967.
He also gave masterclasses and continued to sail his yacht "Y Marchog" ("The Knight"). He became High Sheriff of Cardiganshire - a ceremonial role complete with a costume that could have come straight out of the costume department of one of his beloved opera houses.
Geraint Evans died in 1992 and on the day of his funeral, hundreds of mourners lined the streets of Aberaeron to pay their last respects to one of the world's great opera singers.
Biography courtesy of the BBC Mid Wales website
One of the world's greatest opera singers.
