A DVD of a Dec. 1 concert by Mielavs un Pārcēlāji has been released by UPE Recording Co. The DVD is appropriately title Koncerts Jaunajā Rīgas teātrī. The concert took place in Jaunais Rīgas Teātris and featured the group performing some of its newer material as well as songs by Jauns Mēness.

For those unfamiliar with the three-man group, its core is Ainars Mielavs, who rose to wide popularity as lead singer of Jauns Mēness, a rock group formed in 1987 that remained active through the 1990s. Mielavs went on to a solo career, often performing his own lyrics set to music composed by Imants Kalniņš.

His new group, Mielavs un Pārcēlāji, was created in 2005 and also includes longtime collaborators, guitarist Gints Sola and drummer Juris Kroičs. The trio’s music can be described as laid-back, thoughtful pop. Both the instrumentation and Mielavs’ voice is restrained, a far departure from the rock of Jauns Mēness, especially in its early years.

Mielavs un Pārcēlāji has released two albums, Parunā ar sevi in 2005 and Tad, kad pasauli pārdos in 2006. Both came out on the UPE label, which coincidentally is owned by Mielavs.

For more on the group, visit www.parcelaji.lv.

The MICREC recording house has released a two-track compact disc single of “Questa notte,” the Italian-language song performed by Bonaparti.lv that is Latvia’s entry in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Bonaparti.lv will start in the Eurovision semi-final on May 10 in Helsinki, Finland.

The CD includes the original version of the song and an instrumental version.

The group of six tenors includes Andris Ābelīte, Andris Ērglis, Normunds Jakušonoks, Roberto Meloni, Zigfrīds Muktupāvels and Kaspars Tīmanis. The song was composed by Kjell Jennstig of Sweden. Lyrics are by Jennstig, Torbjörn Wassenius and Francesca Russo.

In advance of the contest, the group has been working on promoting itself and the song. Meloni, for example, was recently interviewed by television station RAI Uno in his native Italy, according to a MICREC press release. Bonaparti.lv also appeared as guest performers in the Lithuanian runup to Eurovision.

Bonaparti.lv will be competing against 27 other countries in the semi-final and must score in the top 10 to advance to the May 12 final.