Latvian pianist Dzintra Erliha, beyond being an award winning, internationally renowned pianist, has also established and confirmed her skills as a composer. Her first album of works for solo piano, Daylight, was released in 2025, and she has followed up on that collection with 2026’s Impressions from Afar, released on the Prima Classic music label.

As the album title and song titles indicate, these are Erliha’s musical visions of various places and events, and Erliha creates vivid melodic paintings in her piano compositions.

The album as a whole has a calm and relaxing, even dreamy, character. In contrast to some of her previous recordings of the works of other composers, which often could be musically tempestuous and occasionally discordant, Impressions from Afar is more melodic and peaceful, providing instrumental works that will envelop the listener with their lyrical quality.

Erliha has now been living in New York City for the past few years, and the album includes a musical tribute to her new home. Evoking the rich musical history of the city, with its jazz rhythms and lilting melodies, Erliha sweeps the listener into a picturesque journey.

The relaxed atmosphere of the album is perhaps most clearly revealed in the composition with the title of ‘Calmness’, with its gentle and tender melody, inspires a serenity within the listener. The delicate, yet optimistic ‘Morning’ evokes the positive mood of a new dawn and day, while the flowing ‘Waterfall’ is a pastoral image that expresses the beauty of nature.

Though many of the works on the album are in major keys, the striking ‘Tears’, tinged with sadness and grief, provides the emotional balance on the album. Like many of the works on the album, there is a deeply personal aspect to this, and Erliha’s performance reveals the deep emotional resonance of the music.

Engrossing and absorbing, Erliha’s solo piano compositions on Impressions from Afar will draw the listener into a colorful and resplendent musical world. Creating lovely impressionistic musical paintings, Erliha displays a rich understanding and deep emotional breadth that will resonate with listeners. Meditative and spiritually enriching, the works on Impressions from Afar further establish Erliha’s compositional talents and skill at writing music that, on an emotional level, can deeply touch listeners.

For further information, please visit Dzintra Erliha’s website and the Prima Classic website.

Impressions From Afar

Dzintra Erliha

Prima Classic, 2026

Track listing:

1. New York City
2. Morning
3. Rainbow
4. Memories
5. Waterfall
6. Valse
7. Calmness
8. Reflection
9. Happiness
10. Dance
11. Choral
12. Tears
13. Prayer
14. Power of Love
15. Starry Night
16. Together
17. Silence