Gazing around St.Jame's Palace as he sang Nessun Dorma for Prince Albert of Monaco, Gari Glaysher found it hard to believe he had come so far. As he soaked up the applause from the royal crowd, he realised how different life could have been.
Born on a north London council estate into a working - class Irish family, Gari's childhood was a far cry from the Royal Opera House. He fought his way through school, leaving at 16 to pursue a life on the building sites and boxing clubs of London.
Then a series of personal tragedies sent his life spiralling out of control until one day, finding himself in a police cell after yet another pub brawl, he decided to change.
Twenty years and a lot of hard work later Gari, 39, is hoping to take the opera world by storm. He is starting work on his first album (part of a three-album deal) he has an impressive series of concerts lined up over the summer and has performed across the globe with operas including Tosca, Carmen, La Boheme, Aida and La Traviata.
His latest coup is to be offered a batch of songs by Christiana Pavarotti, daughter of the late Italian tenor Luciano and her writing partner Andrea Bellentani. "This is something I could never have dreamed of," says Gari of his new-found success.
"I just wish my nan was still alive so she could hear me sing"
Gari's start in life was not an auspicious one. As his single mother stuggled to feed and clothe her six children, the family moved between Kent and London where Gari found himself the target of bullies. He decided to stand up for himself and began to fight back "All I can remember about school is fighting and getting the cane. It got me a bad name, but it stopped the bullying." With no interest in the classroom, Gari sought solace on the football pitch (he had trials with Chelsea) and in the boxing ring instead.
But one music teacher did spot the boy's potential and begged his mother to send him to boarding school to nurture his voice without the distraction of playground fights. Gari's mother did not agree to this, but she did give her son money for private music lessons.
"I never went, I'd spend it on sweeties," smiles Gari, "I wish I knew if Mrs Stone was still alive, I would love to apologise to her,"
Apart from singing in the school carol services, music played little part in the young Gari's life, until their home was burned down one Christmas. The family was split up while their home was rebuilt. Gari found himself staying with a music loving family - and he caught the bug one night watching The Jolson Story. "I was mesmerised. And they let me play all their records. That was when I first heard The Great Caruso sung by Mario Lanza. If it wasn't for these records the time away from my mum would have been unbearable.
The fire was followed by a series of other disasters. His baby niece, Cassandra, was killed in a house-fire. "I was devastated," recalls Gari."I felt so much anger. My sister and her husband survived but little Cassie didn't. I couldn't come to terms with it." Then Gari's younger sister Belinda died of cancer. "I didn't have the strength to go to her funeral but I went alone and watched through the trees. When everybody had gone I sat at the grave and sobbed and sobbed," he says. "I was so angry with everyone and everything but I tried to hold it in.
He took work labouring on the building sites and spent his nights in the pub or the boxing ring. "I hated every minute of it, "he says of his labouring work. He also realised at this time that he would never achieve his ambition of being a professional boxer. The frustration and disappointment manifested themselves in aggression and he found himself locked in a cell for three nights for brawling. "I'd lost my temper again. But I realised I couldn't go on like this. Deep down I knew that this wasn't me. I knew I had to turn things around.
HE CHANNELED his energies into the martial art of Tae Kwon Do, becoming national champion, and took up guitar in a band. One day, with the singer away, Gari was asked to cover for him and he was hooked. "I agreed to sing," he says "but it was so exhausting. I went to a singing coach to learn how to get more stamina. "He was actually an opera singer. Halfway through the first lesson he stopped me and said I had an incredibly natural tenor voice and he hadn't heard a sound like that for years. But I didn't think for a minute then that I had what it took.
Gari left the band and booked lesson after lesson, strengthening his voice and honing his technique. Before long he was auditioning with operatic societies and learning Italian. By 1997, Gari decided to turn his back on the building trade for good and concentrate on his voice - but the sacrifice came at a price. "My partner left me and I was living alone with my dog Dougal. I was broke. The winter months were the worst. I couldn't afford the heating.
Eventually, Gari's house was repossessed but he refused to give up. "I was low but this was nothing compared to the loss of my sister. I was focused, I could deal with it, I knew where I was going."Gari continued taking lessons at the Guildhall and soon the parts started to come in. In 2000, he found love again with Lin, one of his closest friends.
Although worried his working-class background would not be accepted in the opera world, Gari says almost everyone he's met has been right behind him. "I expected the road to be difficult, but everyone's been wonderful," he says. "Even the few people who have tried to knock me have inspired me.
"I feel immensely proud and very lucky to have got where I am now. It's taken a long time to realise that my past wasn't the real me. This is what I was always supposed to do.
Gari will be headlining at the Indego2 in Greenwich on June 20.
Tickets are now available with www,ticketmaster. co. uk
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