2012 was a year of many CD releases by the renowned Latvian Radio Choir.

Starting off the year with Plainscapes, a collection of choir songs by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, then releasing Jaunā raža, which featured recordings of choir works by modern Latvian composers, the choir released two CDs at the end of 2012 – All-Night Vigil, a recording of the work by Russian composer Rachmaninov, as well as Diena Aust, a collection of classic Latvian choir songs.

All-Night Vigil, released on the Finnish label Ondine (ODE 1206-5), features the work more commonly known as ‘Vespers’. The sacred work, possibly Rachmaninov’s best known choir composition, is for unaccompanied voice and is based on Orthodox texts and chants, as well as Rachmaninov’s own interpretations of Church music. The CD booklet contains notes on the work as well as the Latvian Radio choir in English and in Finnish. Also, the text of the work is presented in phoeneticized Russian with an English translation.

Though the Radio Choir usually focuses on the modern Latvian choir music repertoire, Diena aust, released on the Latvijas Koncerti label (LK-013), contains many well-known compositions of the ‘classic’ era of Latvian choir music (roughly speaking, mainly the first half of the 20th century). Featuring compositions by Latvian composers such as Jāzeps Vītols, Emīls Dārziņš, Pēteris Barisons, among others, the CD contains 19 such works. The booklet contains notes on each composition and composer in Latvian and English.

The Latvian Radio Choir, founded in 1940, has been led since 1992 by artistic director Sigvards Kļava, as well as conductor Kaspars Putniņš.

For further information, please visit the Latvian Radio Choir website at http://www.radiokoris.lv, as well as the Ondine website at www.ondine.net and the Latvijas koncerti website at http://www.latvijaskoncerti.lv.

Diena aust track listing:

1. Diena aust – Jāzeps Vītols

2. Bērzs rudenī – Jāzeps Vītols

3. Saule austrumos – Jāzeps Vītols

4. Rožu lauks – Emilis Melngailis

5. Mēness starus stīgo – Emilis Melngailis

6. Emilis Melngailis – Spēlē jel, spēlmani

7. Ja uz Betlemi es ietu – Emīls Dārziņš

8. Ciānas bērni – Emīls Dārziņš

9. Sapņu tālumā – Emīls Dārzinš

10. Minjona – Emīls Dārziņš

11. Ziedoņa rīts – Alfrēds Kalniņš

12. Šūpļa dziesma – Alfrēds Kalniņš

13. Pavasara jausma – Pēteris Barisons

14. Zilie sapņu kalni – Pēteris Barisons

15. Mūzai – Pēteris Barisons

16. Kad nakts – Jānis Zālītis

17. Birztaliņa – Jānis Zālītis

18. Vasaras vakars – Jāzeps Mediņš

19. Jānīts kalnā; Jānīts lejā – Jānis Kalniņš

Famed Latvian bass-baritone Egils Siliņš has released his latest album, Schubert und Strauss Lieder, featuring solo performances of songs by Franz Schubert and Richard Strauss, accompanied on piano by Helmut Deutsch.

The performance, recorded live at the Baltais flīģelis concert hall in Sigulda on December 20, 2011, also includes two Latvian songs, ‘Glāsts’ by Jānis Mediņš and ‘Brīnos es’ by Alfrēds Kalniņš.

Siliņš, perhaps the best known Latvian opera singer, was the first singer from the Latvian Opera to perform at La Scala in Milan, the Vienna Staatsoper, and at the New York Metropolitan Opera House. Siliņš repertoire includes more than 90 roles, and he has performed in opera houses all over the world. He will be performing the role of Wotan in the Wagner operas Das Rheingold and Die Walküre at the Opéra National de Paris in February and March.

Helmut Deutsch has worked with dozens of renowned singers throughout his career and is currently a professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.
For further information, please visit Egils Siliņš’ website at http://www.silins.eu and the website of the Baltais flīģelis concert hall at http://www.baltaisfligelis.lv

Track listing:

1. Die Taubenpost – Franz Schubert

2. Der Wanderer – Franz Schubert

3. Das Fischermädchen – Franz Schubert

4. Nachstück Gedicht – Franz Schubert

5. Der Strom – Franz Schubert

6. Der Wanderer an den Mond – Franz Schubert

7. Der Tod un das Mädchen – Franz Schubert

8. Prometheus – Franz Schubert

9. Am Bach im Frühling – Franz Schubert

10. Litanei – Franz Schubert

11. Liebesbotschaft – Franz Schubert

12. Sei mir gegrüsst – Franz Schubert

13. Erlkönig – Franz Schubert

14. Heimliche Aufforderung – Richard Strauss

15. Zueignung – Richard Strauss

16. Ach wen mir, uglückhaftem Mann – Richard Strauss

17. Ich liebe dich – Richard Strauss

18. Glāsts – Jānis Mediņš

19. Brīnos es – Alfrēds Kalniņš

The Leģendas series, produced by the Latvian record label MicRec, continues with the third release, a compact disc featuring well known Latvian singer Ojārs Grīnbergs (MRCD 497), to celebrate Grīnbergs’ 70th birthday.

Leģendas, meant to spotlight singers who were integral parts of Latvian popular music in previous decades, began with a release in 2010 dedicated to the late Nora Bumbiere. The series’ second entry was Leģendas Ziemassvētkos, a collection of Christmas songs.

Grīnbergs, who has had a career spanning five decades, rose to fame, as many did in the 1960s and 1970s, after collaborating with Raimonds Pauls. Many of Pauls’ best known early songs were performed by Grīnbergs – such as ‘Mežrozīte’ (though there was also a version performed by Zigfrīds Račiņš), ‘Tev, mana labā’, ‘Sens ir tas stāsts’, ‘Somu pirts’, among many others.

The Leģendas CD collects 26 recordings – mainly compositions by Raimonds Pauls, but also songs by Gunārs Freidenfelds, Uldis Stabulnieks and Ivars Vīgners. The songs by Vīgners, from the children’s puppet theater production of Šveiks, are released on CD for the first time. The CD also has three re-recordings from 2007.

The CD booklet contains an essay in Latvian on Grinbergs by Latvian music journalist Daiga Mazvērsīte.

Track listing:

1. Sens ir tas stāsts

2. Tev, mana labā

3. Mežrozīte

4. Nepārmet man

5. Kam ziedi, mežabele

6. Tik dzintars vien

7. Gaujai

8. Zilie lini

9. Mirdzošais gliemežvāks

10. Somu pirts

11. Dziesma nenosalst

12. Cik klusa nakts

13. Saulrieteņa dzīvībiņa

14. Atmiņu lietus

15. Zvaigžņu laiks

16. Sāpju dziesma

Dziesmas no izrādes Šveiks

17. Piparkūku sirsniņa

18. Šveika songs

19. Šveiks cietumā

20. Šveiks dodas karā

21. Mazliet mīlas un mazliet šūpuļdziesmas

22. Karalauka pasts

23. Fināla dziesma

Papildus

24. Tik dzintars vien (2007)

25. Nepārmet man (2007)

26. Zvejnieku sievas (2007)