Viegli, an album of 10 original songs with lyrics drawn from the work of Latvian poet Imants Ziedonis, has been released by a group of young musicians.
The album—featuring performances by Renārs Kaupers, Kārlis Kazāks, Jānis Strapcāns, Jānis Holšteins–Upmanis (Goran Gora), Māra Upmane-Holšteine, Raimonds Gusarevs (El Mars) and other musicians—is one of several projects of a foundation by the same name.
The foundation draws its inspiration from Ziedonis, who has said that Latvia is a wonderfully beautiful land, but that beauty needs help to emerge (“Latvija ir brīnumskaista zeme, bet skaistajam jāpalīdz parādīties”).
The compact disc for Viegli was released May 1 during a concert in the National Library of Latvia under construction in Rīga, according to the Delfi portal.
The album includes 10 acoustic tracks, all recorded last summer during a weeklong creative camp at Ziedonis’s summer home Dzirnakmeņi in Murjāņi:
- “Ne citu rīt,” performed by Renārs Kaupers.
- “Varenā tumsa,” performed by Raimonds Gusarevs with Māra Upmane-Holšteine.
- “Ceļi,” performed by Jānis Holšteins–Upmanis.
- “Mazā bilžu rāmītī,” performed by Renārs Kaupers.
- “Tik tikko,” performed by Māra Upmane–Holšteine.
- “Es Tevi pamīlētu tā,” performed by Kārlis Kazāks.
- “Nepārtraukti, nenorimti,” performed by Raimonds Gusarevs and Māra Upmane–Holšteine.
- “Lakstīgalas,” performed by Māra Upmane-Holšteine.
- “Drīz, drīz,” performed by Jānis Strapcāns.
- “Es atkal neatvados,” perfromed by Renārs Kaupers.
Besides the album, the foundation seeks to turn Dzirnakmeņi into a museum honoring Ziedonis and to create a digital exhibit of his work.
The cover of the CD was designed by Līga Kitchen, an artist from Latvia who now lives in London with her family. See more of her work on her blog, ligakitchen.blogspot.com.
Viegli may be downloaded from the fund’s website, fondsviegli.lv, for a donation ranging from LVL 1 to LVL 150.
On Viegli, a number of popular young musicians perform their original songs based on the work of Imants Ziedonis.
