THE culmination of what is now regarded as one of the great competitions in world music.

A packed St David’s Hall was not disappointed by the five highly contrasted mini-recitals.

Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat (generally referred to as “Mr Mongolia”) is set to be a world star with his sonorous baritone and imposing presence – he came very close.

American soprano Lauren Michelle also had star quality but stumbled in her final Oh smania! Oh furie from Mozart’s Idomeneo and was not in the reckoning.

Tenor Oleksiy Palchykov from the Ukraine gave a crowd-pleasing performance, full of charm and with a relaxed, carefree appeal. However, his programme included some musically lightweight offerings, ending with Lehar’s Dein ist mein ganzes Herz.

It ended with a repeat of the Song Prize final with probably the week’s two most accomplished singers juxtaposed.

South Korean bass Jongmin Park‘s resonant delivery filled the hall though some would criticise a lower register that was rather lightweight. On a night containing little that was light-hearted he was superb in the comic La calunnia (The Barber of Seville) by Rossini.

Belarusian soprano Nadine Koutcher was not at her best in the testing Ach, ich liebte (Idomeneo) by Mozart but quickly rallied and ended with the night’s highlight.

Delibes’ Bell Song from Lakmé makes enormous demands on agility, stamina and intonation.
Miss Koutcher delivered these with aplomb and ultimately clinched a victory that marks her as a significant new talent on the world stage.