Last updated: 12 April 2011
The first Song Prize recital took place in the New Theatre, Cardiff on Sunday 12 June.
View a photo gallery from recital one.
Olesya Petrova - Russia
Accompanist: Aleksy Goribol
Erinnerung (Lieder und Gesange aus der Jugendzeit No 2) - Mahler
In 'Memory', the songs of love awaken the poet's emotions and make him think of romantic songs. Everything is linked - the lips that kiss also sing. The poem is by Richard Volkmann, under the pseudonym Richard Leander.
Polo (7 Canciones Populares Españolas No 7) - de Falla
The singer is wracked with the pains of sorrow, deep in her heart - so deep that she cannot speak of it. Her cries of pain "Ay..." resonate throughout the song, whose text comes from Spanish folk poetry.
Après un rêve (Op 7 No 1) - Fauré
The poet recalls a dream in which the beloved appeared to him, shining with love, calling him to run away with her. But on awakening, he realises that it was all a dream, and begs the night to return and give him back the beautiful lie. The poem is a translation by Romain Bussine of an anonymous Tuscan text.
Ya li v pole da ne travushka byla (Seven romances Op 47 No 7) - Tchaikovsky
"Was I not a little blade of grass in the field?" asks the young girl. Her destiny - to be mown down and dried in the sunshine. "Was I not a little wild rosebush?" she asks. Her destiny - to be uprooted and tied in a bundle. "Was I not my father's daughter?" she continues. Her destiny - to be forced to marry an old man she does not love. The text is by Ivan Zakharovich Surikov.
Probuzhdenije vesny (Satires Op 109 No 2) - Shostakovich
In 'Spring Awakening', the poet thanks the Creator for sending the spring. The cat looked at the calendar and called to all the female cats to go to the attic for a spring marriage. The cactus is growing again. The slush is being cleared from the streets and the winter clothes pawned. There are good things - blue sky and sunshine - but the water is foul and there are many drunkards. The poem is by a writer using the pseudonym Sasha Chorny.
Maria Radoeva - Bulgaria
Accompanist: Simon Lepper
Romance (Deux romances No 2) - Debussy
The soul of the beloved has vanished like the scent of lilies. The poet remembers the times when the sweetness of love enveloped him and wonders if love will ever return. The poem is by Paul Bourget.
Les cloches (Deux romances No 1) - Debussy
The sound of the bells in the clear sky reminds the poet of lilies on the altar in happier times. They refresh the faded leaves of bygone years. The poem is by Paul Bourget.
Die Nacht (Op 10 No 3) - R Strauss
Night comes from the forest and takes all the colour and light from the world - everything we hold dear. It steals the silver of the stream and the gold from the cathedral's copper roof. The singer tells his beloved to draw closer, afraid that night will also steal her from him. The text is by Hermann von Gilm.
Befreit (Op 39 No 4) - R Strauss
In Befreit ('Freed'), one partner of a married couple is dying, leaving the other to care for their children. The couple have built their life together, but are now content to part and to meet again only in dreams. They have released each other from sorrow. The poem is by Richard Dehmel.
Nani mi nani, Damyancho - Lyubomir Pipkov
In this lullaby, the mother bids her baby to sleep, so that she can get on with her work, scything the big wheat field.
John Pierce - Wales
Accompanist: LlÅ·r Williams
Fair house of joy (Seven Elizabethan Lyrics Op 12 No 7) - Quilter
A setting of the famous poem 'Fain would I change that note', anonymous but sometimes attributed to Tobias Hume. The poet would not change anything about love's charms. Although people say the fruits of love are bitter, he maintains that they are sweet. The title 'Fair house of joy' comes from the second stanza of the poem.
Now sleeps the crimson petal (Op 3 No 2) - Quilter
The text comes from 'The Princess' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Quilter sets just the first and last stanzas. The scene, set by the first stanza, is the garden of the palace in the still of the night. The poet asks the beloved to wake, like the firefly. In the last stanza, he asks her to fold into him, as the flowers of the water-lily close up in the night
Mae hiraeth yn y môr - Dilys Elwyn-Edwards
The Welsh word 'hiraeth' has a particular meaning of deep longing for home - a feeling in the soul when one is far away. The poet describes the 'hiraeth' in the sounds and silences of the landscape - the sea, the rivers and the mountains, the winds in the reeds. The sound of a cockerel crowing on a nearby gate awakens an answer from afar, with the sadness of distance in its voice. The poem is by R Williams Parry.
Non t'amo più - Tosti
The singer reminds the beloved of the day they met, and the promises they made to each other when they were mad with love. But she lied, and became cold towards him. Now, he protests that he does not long for her kisses, or think about her, or love her any more. The text is by Carmelo Errico.
Morire? - Puccini
The poet asks questions about life and death. Is life full of hope, or of bitterness? Do you need dreams, peace, faith? He doesn't know - but you do, on the other side of the shore of life. The poem is by Giuseppe Adami.
L'alba separa dalla luce l'ombra (Quattro canzoni d'Amaranta No 2) - Tosti
In 'The dawn divides the light from the darkness', the poet dreads the rising of the sun, as his dreams of desire will disappear in the light of day. The poem is by Gabriele D'Annunzio.
Sasha Djihanian - Canada
Accompanist: Gary Matthewman
V tak mnohém srdci mrtvo jest (Op 83 No 2) - Dvořák
The poet talks of broken hearts, where death and sadness reign. Love comes into the heart, to deceive it into feelings of happiness, and this sweet paradise brings the heart back to life. The poem is by Gustav Pfleger-Moravský.
Ó byl to krásný zlatý sen (Op 2 No 2) - Dvořák
The poet remembers the beautiful dream that he shared with his beloved, but the time they spent together was so short. He sorrowfully longs for his beloved. The poem is by Gustav Pfleger-Moravský.
Thy dark eyes to mine (Three poems of Fiona Macleod Op 11 No 2) - Charles T Griffes
The poet dreams of the fire in the dark eyes of the beloved. If he imagines her kiss, his soul will leap like a falling star. The text is by the Scottish poet, William Sharp, writing as Fiona Macleod.
Ständchen (Op 17 No 2) - R Strauss
In Ständchen ('Serenade') the poet asks the beloved to open the door quietly, to wake no-one and join him in the garden. There, the flowers by the stream are sleeping, and only love is awake. The nightingale will dream of their kisses, and in the morning the rose will glow with their passion. The poem is by Adolf Friedrich, Graf von Schack.
Chère nuit - Alfred Bachelet
The lover waits impatiently for night to fall, as he will be with his beloved only after the sun has gone down. The night is more beautiful than the day and makes the dawn of his love shine brightly. Eugène Adénis-Colombeau wrote the poem.
