One of the most intriguing recent collaborations in Latvian music is that of composer Valts Pūce and the Georgian ensemble The Shin. Joining together on the recording entitled Es arī, their talents have produced a unique album, combining elements of Latvian and Georgian folk songs, as well as jazz and other world music elements.

Some readers might know Pūce from his music for the Latvian musical “Šveiks” (based on the satirical novel The Good Soldier Švejk by Czech author Jaroslav Hašek), particular the enduringly popular song “Ardievu, meitenes!” performed by Latvian pop group Prāta vētra.

Others may be aware of Pūce’s earlier world music work with Owl’s Ethnographic Orchestra (Pūces Etnogrāfiskais orķestris, pūce literally translating to “owl” in English) and the album Šaizemē / Taizemē. Pūce has dabbled in many types of composition, and those who had the opportunity to attend the 2008 Latvian Song Festival in Rīga would have heard two of his choral works at the closing concert, “Gaismeņa ausa, sauleite lēce” and “Ik rudeni valodiņa.”

Continuing his exploration of world music, Pūce and members of Owl’s Ethnographic Orchestra last year joined with The Shin (Zaza Miminoshvili, Zurab Gagnidze and Mamuka Gaganidze) to record an album inspired by Latvian and Georgian folk music. Also heard on Es arī are the well-known and respected folk singers Zane Šmite (who has performed with Iļģi and Lidojošais paklājs) and Kristīne Kārkle (who has performed with Laimas Muzykanti and Ceiruleits).

Though it is inspired by folk music, I would hesitate to call this a folk music album. It is certainly more “world music,” as there many other elements at work here, including jazz and perhaps even bits of new age. The music is difficult to characterize, as the style tends to change, frequently in mid-song. Vocals are in both Latvian and Georgian, and songs feature traditional instruments of both cultures. The album also features an eclectic mix of guest performers, such as Valdis Muktupāvels on kokles, Normunds Šnē on oboe and Raimonds Ozols on violin, among many others.

Someone once remarked to me that any Latvian folk music album is incomplete unless it has a song with “līgo” (referring to the Latvian midsummer celebration), “kaladū” (a frequently used refrain in folk songs that relate to winter), and references to “kumeliņš” (a young horse, an animal that frequently appears in Latvian folk songs). Es arī gets all three, with songs entitled “Līgo” and “Kaladoo,” plus references to “divi dzelteni kumeliņi” in the song “Es arī.”

“Līgo” begins sounding like a traditional midsummer song, with accordion, but swiftly moves into a mix of modern and traditional elements. Then, mid-song, it switches to Georgian elements. Though the switches in this and other songs is rather dramatic, they are never jarring and more often than not seem to be natural progressions to and from different folk elements.

Šmite has one of the most distinct voices in Latvian music—a rich alto that is unique and immediately recognizable to listeners. For example, in “Līgo” Šmite’s resonant voice adds a particularly robust feel to the song. And, in a song that could almost qualify as pop music, “E-O” (which features the vowels “E” and “O”) Šmite and Kārkle balance each other artfully to make the song one of the catchiest on the album.

My favorite song is the title track, “Es arī,” which begins with an almost Middle Eastern melody, transforms into melodic Georgian chanting, and then slowly and gradually builds up to a dramatic climax of Latvian melodies featuring Kārkle’s expressive and striking singing, and ends with a very ethereal Georgian a capella vocal.

Though the lyrics aren’t included in the packaging, the liner notes have a brief explanation of each song in English and in Latvian, as well as some quotes from Pūce and The Shin, plus pictures of the creation process.

Listeners who enjoy Kārkle’s and Šmite’s singing may also want to check out this year’s Latviešu tautasdziesmas by Trio Šmite Kārkle Cinkuss, which features them performing together with choir director Ivars Cinkuss.

Es arī is certainly one of my favorite compact discs of 2009. Unique, eclectic, original and memorable, the collaboration captivatingly balances the ancient and the modern, the Latvian and the Georgian, to make an album that can be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of listeners. Pūce and The Shin have made a truly remarkable and memorable record.

Perhaps the most well known of Latvian symphonic works, and certainly one of the most popular, is “Symphony No. 4” by composer Imants Kalniņš. It is a composition that has been nicknamed by some as the “Rock” symphony, as it combines classical motifs with elements of rock to form a groundbreaking work.

The recording company Upe tuviem un tāliem last year released both compact disc and LP versions of the symphony performed by the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra conducted by Imants Resnis.

Originally composed in 1973, “Symphony No. 4” was an immediate hit. However, at the time Soviet authorities forbade the performance of the symphony’s fourth movement (which features a soprano solo, the text of which is made up of selections from the poetry of American poet Kelly Cherry, which in turn quotes from poetry by Robert Browning). The original movement was only allowed to be restored much later.

Though there have been multiple recordings of the symphony (particularly notable is the 1998 release by MICREC, which featured a live performance by the Liepāja orchestra), this new release is the first studio recording to include the original fourth movement.

The elements of classical and rock can be immediately heard in the first movement of the work, with its driving beat and its sense of tension rising as the movement progresses, reaching a thunderous climax. The performance features the percussion performance of distinguished rock drummer Vilnis Krieviņš (who has played with a number of groups, most notably Līvi). Though the climax arrives early in the movement, the tension and drive is relentless, with the percussion providing the rhythmic foundation.

The second movement, in a rather abrupt change from the first, is musically far more relaxed and tender. Here one can hear more “Latvian” elements, giving some of the melodies an almost folk song-like quality.

The fourth and final movement, the one that caused the Soviet authorities grief in the early 1970s, is also a departure from the previous movements. The solo (on this recording, performed by mezzosoprano Ieva Parša) is brought forward as the orchestra stays in the background for most of the movement. The angst-filled poetry of Cherry returns the tension of the first movement, and Parša deftly adapts to the emotional changes necessary, as the words rapidly move between love, anger and sorrow.

I am extremely reluctant to even mention this, but, unfortunately, there are a few spots where the English diction is not as good as it could be. Though Parša is certainly one of the leading Latvian mezzosopranos (listen to her solo CD, Skaņu labirints, which feature modern vocal works by Latvian composers), there are a handful of spots where it is difficult to determine what she is singing. With the words—and, correspondingly, feelings and emotions—being so important in the fourth movement, diction is critical.

To be very honest, I slightly prefer the original 1998 recording of the work. Perhaps, since it was a live recording, there was a higher sense of tension in the recording, which adds to the dramatic effect of the symphony, particularly in the first movement. Additionally on that release, the solo vocal in the fourth movement was performed by American soprano Patti Cohenour, who is better able to express the nuances of the text than someone whose native language is not English.

The CD packaging includes the poetic text by Cherry, along with Latvian translation. It would have been helpful to have a bit of background of the work itself, perhaps commentary from the composer himself, if not some musicologists, as to what made this work so significant and beloved at the same time.

Make no mistake, this recording is highly enjoyable, reminding the listener of why this symphony is one of the key works in Latvian classical music. Though the symphony is almost 40 years old, it still sounds as vital as ever, and its dramatic effect is still as gripping as when it was first performed.

With choir music and choir performance being so popular in Latvia, not to mention a part of the national heritage, it was inevitable that a reality series based around choir singing would appear. The show “Koru kari” (Choir Wars), produced by television channel TV3, was quite a sensation in Latvia. Seven choirs—each from a different city in Latvia, each led by a popular singer, and each given a unique color to identify themselves—competed for victory.

As on other performance-based reality shows, judges would give their opinions on the choirs’ performances, viewers could call in and vote for their favorite choir, and periodically one of the choirs would be voted off until only one choir was left and was declared the winner. The highlights of the first season of the show were collected on the DVD Labākais no labākā.

The seven choirs participating were Ieva Akuratere (solo singer and singer for the rock group Pērkons) and the White Riga Choir, Olga Rajecka (solo singer and singer with Latvian groups such as Turaidas roze and Eolika) and the Violet Lielvārde Choir, Dzintars Čīča (solo singer) and the Blue Talsi Choir, Atis Auzāns (solo singer) and the Orange Daugavpils Choir, Chilli (solo singer) and the Red Liepāja Choir, Miervaldis Jenčs (one of the Latvian Three Tenors) and the Green Sigulda Choir, and Arnis Mednis (solo singer) and the Yellow Rīga Choir.

Having not ever seen the show while it was running, but having heard much about it, I figured I should check out what all the fuss was about, since many in Latvia were captivated by the show, discussing who had the best performance, who should be eliminated, who was unfairly eliminated, and the regular discussions that accompany these types of shows.

On the DVD, the first thing that becomes obvious is that these were not choirs in the traditional Latvian sense. For the most part, the choirs perform popular songs and not Latvian choral classics. Also, the performances do not really strike me as true choir performances. They are more “star and a bunch of backing vocalists” performances. Four-part harmonies are minimal. Of course, with this being a television show, the visual aspect is also important. In addition to singing, we get choreography and the occasional costume.

The songs performed are pretty much as one would expect, with not much deviation from the original. This is a bit of a shame, as the highlights of the DVD are the songs that give a new spin to existing songs and manage to surprise you. Unfortunately, there are too few of those kinds of performances. Rajecka and the Lievārde Violet Choir, the eventual second-place finishers, provide two of the better moments of the show. One is their hip-hop reinterpretation of the Latvian folk song “Rikšiem bērīt es palaidu” (goofy dancing notwithstanding). The other is their rearrangement of a slightly more obscure Čikāgas piecīši tune “Bitītes,” which makes a rather surprising segue into the Mission: Impossible theme.

The winners, the Daugavpils Orange Choir led by Auzāns, provide a memorable moment with their performance of the Latgallian folk song “Kur gaismeņa.” Čīča, himself of Roma descent, and his choir perform the Roma song “Jelem, jelem.” Perhaps one of the only actual choir songs to get a performance is Song Festival favorite “Saule, Pērkons, Daugava” (composer Mārtiņš Brauns, lyrics by Rainis), performed by Akuratere and the White Riga Choir.

The DVD also has occasional “pop up” notes on the show, such as the fact that an impressive 1.39 million viewers watched the first season. While interesting, there are too few of them, and they get repeated over and over again. Additionally, it would have been helpful to maybe have a brief documentary about the show and how it works. No mention is made of the judges, for example. Also potentially interesting would have been to find out how the choirs chose their songs, or maybe comments from the leaders of the choirs on the whole ordeal and their thoughts on it.

For those interested in further exploration, both Auzans and Rajecka and their respective choirs have released compact discs of their choir performances

I guess I was expecting more than just the slightly rearranged pop songs that make up the bulk of this collection, and not many surprises along the way. Of course, since this is television, the visual element becomes almost more important than the musical element. The choirs all sing great, and there are a few interesting tunes in the set, but the choirs could have been utilized in a better way, rather than simply being used as backing vocalists. The show was still a big hit. The second season, from what I have heard, was even more of a spectacle than the first season. But in the end, I could not quite figure out what all the fuss was about.