Now available for the first time on compact disc are the complete Dainas by Jānis Mediņš for solo piano.

Performed by pianist Jonathan Powell and released by the Toccata Classics record label, 24 Dainas (TOCC 0097) is a collection of piano works that Mediņš composed over the course of his career.

The CD booklet includes a lengthy biography of Mediņš in English. Mediņš (1890-1966), the brother of another famed Latvian composer Jēkabs, was one of the most significant Latvian composers in the first half of the 20th century, and among his works are the opera Uguns un nakts (1913-1919) and the ballet Mīlas uzvara (1934). After Soviet occupation, Mediņš resided in Sweden. One of the more amazing facts noted in the biography is that Mediņš carried the score for Uguns un nakts in his backpack for 10,000 km in his journey from Vladivostok to Latvia.

Jonathan Powell specializes in late Romantic composers, and is currently based in Poland. Powell has performed all over the world and has recorded a number of CDs and has worked with many well known orchestras and conductors.

The Tocatta Classics label has released a number of CDs of the works of Baltic composers, including works by Latvian Pēteris Plakidis, Estonian Veljo Tormis and Lithuanian Vytautas Bacevičius.

For further information, visit Jonathan Powell’s website at http://jonathanpowell.wordpress.com/ and the Toccatta Classics website at http://www.toccataclassics.com/. For further information on Jānis Mediņš, visit the website of the Latvian Music Information Centre, http://www.lmic.lv (information in Latvian and English).