“I WASN’T always this way,” joked Art Garfunkel as he took to the stage of St David’s Hall on Thursday evening.

The legend, who suffered a severe voice paralysis attack four years ago, then boldly promised his audience :“The heart is still young, but the voice is back.”

Accompanied by guitarist Tad Lavin, the pair presented an intimate two-hour show featuring a large selection of classics from the Simon & Garfunkel back catalogue. This was as well as some of Garfunkel’s own solo material embellished with original poetry and anecdotes from his forthcoming autobiography.

Garfunkel’s voice might have seemed vulnerable in places but this improved with rapid speed after the first few numbers as he responded to the warmth and encouragement the Cardiff audience were giving him.

Highlights included the Paul Simon composition The Side of the Hill – a song that was later reworked by Garfunkel to accompany the vocal refrain for Scarborough Fair.

That was among other numbers he also performed commenting: “It’s taken me all my life to figure out what the words of Scarborough Fair mean. I think it’s about loss.”

The second half saw Garfunkel pay homage to his idols The Everly Brothers and he was joined on stage by his son Art Jr to give a harmonious performance of Devoted to You before Art Jr captivated the audience with a solo rendition of Charles Chaplin’s Smile.

This was then followed by applause and an encore described by Garfunkel as “a workshop”, which featured a poignant rendition of Bridge over Troubled Water.