"On 21 June 2011 the world premi?re of the cantata The Bards of Wales – Beirdd Cymru by Karl Jenkins will be performed in English at the Palace of Arts. The everlasting message of János Arany’s well-known ballad is that there always have been and always will be people who dare to speak up for freedom even if it means risking their lives. The new cantata praises human bravery and civil courage in the face of tyranny and all forms of oppression. Karl Jenkins, who was born in Wales and is today the most performed contemporary British composer in the world, will conduct the piece himself. This one-time star of the Montreux Jazz Festivals in the 1970s will first appear in Hungary with his new, large scale symphonic work inspired by Arany’s ballad. A 170 strong mixed choir of Welsh, English and Hungarian singers together with renowned soloists will sing at the world premi?re in Budapest in English accompa-nied by the MÁV Symphony Orchestra. Source: mupa.hu The commemorative cover released for the world premi?re of the cantata features an illustration by Mihály Zichy of János Arany’s The Bard of Wales. Unusually, the inscriptions on the cover are in Hun-garian, English and Welsh. The For Youth stamp released in 1997, which celebrated the 150th anni-versary of Arany’s epic poem Toldi, is cancelled with a special postmark commemorating the world pre-mi?re. SO"