To honor the work of the late Vilnis Zaļkalns, who led the Latvian service of Radio Sweden from 1989 until his death in 2002, his colleagues have prepared a double compact disc collection of some of his most memorable broadcasts.

Radio Vilnis includes reports prepared during the independence activities in the Baltic states in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as commentary about some of the difficulties facing the nations after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Also heard are Zaļkalns’ commentaries on myths about Sweden.

The 20 tracks on the album are introduced by Austra Krēsliņa, Dagnija Lapsa and Dace Vinklere.

Information about obtaining the album is available by contacting Dace Vinklere in Sweden by telephone at +46 70 653 2526 or by e-mail dace.vinklere@sr.se, or Ģirts Zēgners in Latvia by telephone at +371 68 50 511 or by e-mail at girts.zegners@apollo.lv.

A recording of Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 13,” with Latvia-born conductor Mariss Jansons leading the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, has been nominated for two Grammy awards.

An opera recording that includes Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča also has been nominated in the 48th annual Grammy Awards competition, The Recording Academy announced Dec. 8.

The Shostakovich recording, released on the EMI Classics label in August, is one of five recordings nominated in the Best Classical Albums category. It also is nominated in the Best Orchestral Performance category.

The composer’s “Symphony No. 13” was written in 1961 as a tribute to the tens of thousands of Jews murdered from 1941-1943 at Babi Yar in Ukraine.

Jansons has been chief conductor of the Munich, Germany-based orchestra since the 2003-2004 concert season. This summer, his contract was extended through August 2009. Born in Latvia in 1943, Jansons is the son of conductor Arvīds Jansons.

Garanča appears on Vivaldi: Bajazet, a recording by the Europa Galante ensemble of Antonio Vivaldi’s little-known “Bajazet,” an opera penned in 1735. Fabio Biondi conducts what Virgin Classics calls the recording premiere of the work.

The recording was released in May on the Virgin Classics and EMI Classics label.

Garanča, who was born in Latvia, now performs with the Wiener Staatsoper in Vienna, Austria.

The Grammy Awards presentation is scheduled Feb. 8 in Staples Center in Los Angeles.

A NATO heads of state summit will in fact take place in Rīga next year, Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga announced Dec. 7, confirming long-running hopes of political leaders.

Leaders of the defense alliance meeting in Brussels have given the go-ahead for the summit, the president said during a press conference. A firm date has not been determined, but it will be in November.

“It will give us another opportunity together with our partners—Estonia, Lithuania and the other NATO member states—to use Rīga as a venue of debates about the very essence of NATO, about the improvement of its work and about the future prospects of NATO as an alliance,” the president said.

Latvia formally became a member of NATO in March 2004.

The U.S. ambassador to Latvia, Catherine Todd Bailey, congratulated Latvia on news of the selection.

“From President Vīķe-Freiberga on down, I know that many, many Latvians have worked very hard for many months to ensure that today’s announcement was a positive one,” she said in a prepared statement. “I’m also certain that their excellent work will continue and will make the November 2006 NATO summit an extremely successful one for all the NATO allies.”

(UPDATED 07 DEC 2005)