IT'S always nice to find out something new about my adopted town of Basingstoke - and thanks to soloist David Wilson-Johnson, I now know about it being mentioned in Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta Ruddigore.

"Yes, the last time I uttered 'Basingstoke' was when it was the ultimate oath to silence anyone on stage," he recalls.

"It was a word of control used by the character Despard to get power over his intended, Mad Margaret, when she had her fits."

But now he's talking about Basingstoke in reference to his appearance with The Anvil's orchestra in partnership, the Philharmonia, when they perform The Damnation of Faust by Berlioz there on Friday, at 7.30pm.

Performed in French with English surtitles, under the great Berlioz conductor Charles Dutoit, this is sure to be an outstanding evening.

David will sing bass, surrounded by other top-class soloists and the orchestra he describes as one of his favourites.

"I sing with a lot of orchestras, but try to split 50/50 between concerts and opera so I don't get bored," said David (pictured).

"I get to choose now, at this stage, and I've always thought of the Philharmonia as my home orchestra.

"Some of my happiest times have been with them - they are chums and it's great to find friendly faces when you go to rehearse and perform.

"You don't have to go through all the posturing, you can just get down to it."

In a career spanning 30 years, David has sung under a vast selection of famous conductors, including Sir Simon Rattle and Andre Previn, and been a guest of many major opera houses and festivals worldwide.

He last sang Faust in Berlin and Turin, and sang Beethoven's Ninth under Leonard Slatkin at the Last Night of the Proms in 2001, after the events of 9/11, to a worldwide audience of 340 million.

"I remember waking up one day in Cambridge and having the thought that it was all rather nice," said David.

"I've been one of the lucky ones - I've never had a day out of work.

"But it's not the same now. Thatcher was the beginning and end of it really, and no one has replaced musical education in schools.

"There's become less opportunity for youngsters' careers in the last five years.

"I was making a living from the word go. I started singing in a choir at weddings and funerals for £2.60 a time.

"But then, in 1977, I won a prize and it changed things for me, bringing in 40 or 50 engagements.

"I played the organ and cello, and had a great social life."

And this awareness of how much new musical talent needs support is what lay behind his decision to begin a summer school in the Dordogne, where he lives for part of the year, the rest of it spent in either Amsterdam or London.

"We take on about 16 students per year, and I work with a singing teacher and some music coaches," he said.

"They like to come to work with young students, but it's hard work! You're on call all the time.

"I felt the majority of music colleges just weren't preparing people adequately, so I thought I'd go about it myself."

I find myself drawn to the little mention on David's CV that he sang on Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. What a record to have been a vocalist on, I enthuse.

"I had no idea who any of those people were," David laughs in recollection.

"I was a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London and they said, 'Can you fix us up a choir?'

"I turned up with half a dozen mates and a certain young guy by the surname of Branson was there too.

"They paid me £5 for fixing and £5 for singing - but I think I'm legally entitled to just a little bit more and I did contact Richard about it.

"I asked him to sponsor some of the students at the music college and he refused.

"Thinking about it now, I'm outraged actually, considering how successful the record was!"

Tickets to see David Wilson-Johnson and the Philharmonia Orchestra, priced from £13.50 to £29.50, are available from the box office on 01256 844244, the website www.theanvilorg.uk or the ticket fax 01256 366900.