![Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Gintaras Rinkevicius - Pēteris Barisons: Three Preludes, Symphony No. 2 (The Romantic) (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/08/08/fy3ffopp9syjc_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Gintaras Rinkevicius – Pēteris Barisons: Three Preludes, Symphony No. 2 (The Romantic) (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 57:33 minutes | 1,01 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © SKANI
“The 1930s are a particularly notable time for the development of Latvian music. This can be observed in the work of composers of all generations, as well as in music education, concert life, periodicals and the beauty of the Song Festivals. Throughout all these, Pēteris Barisons (1904–1947). is an active and fruitful participant. His dynamic and varied work in one area is particularly noteworthy – that is his rich and bountiful achievement in the field of symphonic music. [..] The symphony confirms both the author’s conceptual ability to transform his own complex intentions into a musically rich, but natural, organic whole, as well as his ability to use the possibilities of the orchestra in varied and rich ways. Today, with its language and message rooted in late romantic traditions, it does not at all sound outdated or anachronistic. No, it offers a universal concept in a natural, organic way, which is effective still in the 21st century.” Jānis Torgāns.
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![Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Māris Kupčs - Fridrich Bruk: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2 (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/10/14/nff7kx397191a_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Māris Kupčs – Fridrich Bruk: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2 (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:17:52 minutes | 1,29 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Toccata Classics
Fridrich Bruk – born in Kharkov in 1937 and a Finnish resident since 1974 – made his name as a composer of tangos. But the heart of his music lies in a series of (to date) 21 symphonies, which have a strong narrative element, some reflecting Jewish themes, others inspired by Karelia and Finland. The three most recent together form a kind of meta-symphony premised on the persecution of the Jews in the first half of the twentieth century. Bruk’s kaleidoscopic use of orchestral colour, his angular but expressive melodies and his dramatic musical language reflect this urge to chronicle the outrage visited on his fellow Jews – and which directly impinged on his own life.
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![Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Guntis Kuzma - Flowering Jasmine (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/08/08/av3ps50oq6qpa_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Guntis Kuzma – Flowering Jasmine (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:15:46 minutes | 1,25 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © SKANI
One cannot miss the presence of Latvian nature when listening to the nine tracks selected for this album performed by the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra.
All these miniatures are revealed for a wider audience for the first time in this release – truly, a hidden treasure. They draw their inspiration from the summer dawn (Rits / Morning by Porietis), the sky (Varaviksne / Rainbow by Ivanovs) and the intensive sweet smell of flowers (Plaukstosais Jasmins / Flowering Jasmine by Pelecis). Buth they are not merely the illustration of the beauty of the nature, they serve as a bridge that determines our relationship to the world around us.
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![Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Paul Mann - Derek B. Scott: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2 (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/08/08/iwfadhovl5bfc_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Paul Mann – Derek B. Scott: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 57:53 minutes | 950 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Toccata Classics
Derek Scott, born in Birmingham in 1950, has an international reputation as an historian of the British music hall and other forms of light entertainment. But he is an outstanding composer in his own right, his music treading a fine line between a very English whimsy and a profoundly felt and natural response to his (often Celtic) subject matter. These works reveal a master craftsman and natural tunesmith, who manages to unite good humour, unerring technique and deep feeling in music of immediate appeal. His two symphonies – originally written for brass band – embody a return to the formal, Classical clarity of Haydn, though expressed with the satisfyingly beefy textures of the modern orchestra. He lists among his influences Shostakovich and Sibelius and, less predictably, The Beatles and The Kinks.
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Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Guntis Kuzma – Flowering Jasmine (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:15:46 minutes | 1,25 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © SKANI
One cannot miss the presence of Latvian nature when listening to the nine tracks selected for this album performed by the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra.
All these miniatures are revealed for a wider audience for the first time in this release – truly, a hidden treasure. They draw their inspiration from the summer dawn (Rits / Morning by Porietis), the sky (Varaviksne / Rainbow by Ivanovs) and the intensive sweet smell of flowers (Plaukstosais Jasmins / Flowering Jasmine by Pelecis). Buth they are not merely the illustration of the beauty of the nature, they serve as a bridge that determines our relationship to the world around us.
(more…)
Sherban Lupu, Henri Bonamy, Liepaja Symphony Orchestra & Paul Mann – Eugene Ysaye: Violin Discoveries (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:07:17 minutes | 1,15 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Divine Art
Belgian violinist, conductor and composer Eugène Ysaÿe (1858–1931) has been recognized as one of the greatest violin virtuosos of the 19th and early 20th centuries; regarded as the ‘King of the Violin’ by Nathan Milstein, his legacy has inspired generations of musicians. Ysaÿe was also a true avant-garde composer whose works feature revolutionary modern violin technique, unique expressive devices, profound musicality and harmonic originality, which eventually served as the bridge between the era of the Romantic virtuoso and contemporary music. It is odd, then, to realise that many of his works remain unknown, unpublished and unrecorded. This album presents for the first time several works for violin and piano ranging from 1885 to 1924, and a previously unknown Violin Concerto in G minor from 1910, which was orchestrated by Sabin Pautza. Romanian violinist Sherban Lupu is internationally known; he studied in London with Yehudi Menuhin and other leading teachers and has a very busy career, being best known for his discovery, publication and performance of the music of Enescu, but also has held prestigious posts in Italy and Romania and as concertmaster of San Francisco Opera, USA. He is accompanied here by the bright young pianist Henri Bonamy (who was Professor of Piano in Seoul, Korea and now teaches in Munich) and the fine orchestra of Liepāja, Latvia. The conductor is Paul Mann who has made a name recently with many recordings for Toccata Classics.
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Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra, Liepāja Symphony Orchestra & Paul Mann – Rob Keeley: Orchestral Music (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:18:09 minutes | 1,35 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Toccata Classics
The music of Rob Keeley – born in south Wales in 1960 but immersed in London musical life since boyhood – embraces a wide range of influences. Stravinsky’s angular melodies and Tippett’s buoyant rhythms can be heard in the spiky but bucolic Second Symphony. Keeley readily confesses to an allegiance to Gallic Neo-Classicism in his Flute Concerto and, more surprisingly, reveals a taste for Telemann as the inspiration behind his Triple Concerto, with the ‘Enigma’ Variations of ‘my beloved Elgar’ acting as a model for Keeley’s own recent set of orchestral variations. Among the factors unifying these eclectic stimuli into an individual musical language are a concern for textural clarity and lightness of touch, a fondness for dance and a hint of good humour.
Read more![Liepāja Symphony Orchestra,John Gibbons - Wordsworth: Orchestral Music, Vol. 1 (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/02/28/poynkuq146ucc_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra,John Gibbons – Wordsworth: Orchestral Music, Vol. 1 (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:20:36 minutes | 1,25 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Toccata Classics
The music of London-born William Wordsworth (1908-1988) a great-great-grandson of the poets brother Christopher lies downstream from that of Vaughan Williams and Sibelius; like that of his contemporary Edmund Rubbra, Wordsworths music unfolds spontaneously, as a natural process, with a sense of grandeur perhaps enhanced by his move to the Scottish Highlands in 1961. Three of the four works recorded here display the sober dignity of the instinctive symphonist; the Variations on a Scottish Theme reveal a sly sense of humor behind the serious countenance. John Gibbons has conducted most of the major British orchestras. He has been Principal Conductor of Worthing Symphony Orchestra- the professional orchestra of West Sussex- with which he has given many world premieres of neglected works. He studied music at Queens College, Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, winning numerous awards as conductor, pianist and accompanist. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, vice chairman of the British Music Society, and choral director at Clifton Cathedral. His own music has been performed in various abbeys and cathedrals as well as on the South Bank, London.
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![Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, John Gibbons - Wordsworth: Orchestral Music, Vol. 4 (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/02/28/n5e82j0qtkudc_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, John Gibbons – Wordsworth: Orchestral Music, Vol. 4 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 59:18 minutes | 1001 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Toccata Classics
The music of William Wordsworth (1908-1988) – a great-great-grandson of the poet’s brother Christopher – lies downstream from that of Vaughan Williams and Sibelius; like that of his contemporary Edmund Rubbra, Wordsworth’s music unfolds spontaneously, as a natural process. This fourth volume of his orchestral works presents four works which are all symphonic studies in essence, each remarkable for its unassertive strength of purpose and its suggestion of a sense of scale beyond its actual dimensions – perhaps in part a reflection of the majesty of the Scottish Highlands where he made his home, and of the quiet resolve of his own character.
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Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, John Gibbons – Wordsworth: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2 (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:19:39 minutes | 1,36 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Toccata Classics
The music of William Wordsworth (1908–88) – a great-great-grandson of the poet’s brother Christopher – lies downstream from that of Vaughan Williams and Sibelius; like that of his contemporary Edmund Rubbra, Wordsworth’s music unfolds spontaneously, as a natural process. This second volume brings two concertos, both major works – though long forgotten, and contrasted in their approach: the gritty and muscular Piano Concerto is cast in a single, tightly argued span, whereas the lyrical Violin Concerto is expansive and unhurried – and deeply touching. They are complemented by the Three Pastoral Sketches, which grow gently from understated autumnal hues to a dignified and moving climax. All three scores show an extraordinary command of orchestral colour.
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Liepāja Symphony Orchestra & Atvars Lakstīgala – Symphony No. 2, Mystery of His Birth (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 48:02 minutes | 890 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © SKANI
Rihards Dubra’s international recognition has been growing steadily over recent years. These world premiere recordings celebrating the Latvian composer are performed by the oldest symphony orchestra in the Baltic states: Liepāja Symphony Orchestra.
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Liepaja Symphony Orchestra & Atvars Lakstigala – Liepaja Concerti Vol. I (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 02:18:38 minutes | 1,41 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Odradek Records
The mission of the “Liepaja Concertos” is to capture music that has its roots in the Latvian cultural soil and to introduce it to the world. This new album from Odradek brings together works by Dubra, Smidbergs, Esenvalds, Karlsons and Lacis, performed by the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Atvars Lakstigala.
The Liepaja Symphony Orchestra is the oldest continually performing symphony orchestra in the Baltic States, and the only professional orchestra in the country outside Latvia’s capital Riga. Its debut Odradek album, Kurland Sounds, was praised by BBC Music Magazine as “A bracing selection of contemporary Latvian music combining Eastern colour and Western sonorities in dazzling combinations with an operatic intensity that will leave you breathless”.
Atvars Lakstigala, a prolific conductor both at home and overseas, has been the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor and Music Director from 2010 to 2017. He has won many international competitions, received numerous nominations for the Latvian Grand Music Award, and in 2010 won this award for Debut of the Year.
Read more![Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Paul Mann - Spoliansky: Orchestral Music (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/04/22/wnvklsixce1ib_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Paul Mann – Spoliansky: Orchestral Music (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:13:40 minutes | 1,26 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Toccata Classics
The Russian-born Mischa Spoliansky (1898-1985) became one of the major names in cabaret in 1920s Berlin and then, as a refugee from Nazi Germany, in London, he became one of the best-known composers of film scores. He also wrote a handful of orchestral works, which have remained unknown until now. His Boogie is a witty, tongue-in-cheek piece of orchestral jazz, and the Overture to My Husband and I, one of his stage shows, has a Mozartian sparkle and wit.
But it is his only Symphony, an epic statement composed over a period of nearly three decades, that constitutes his real achievement as an orchestral composer – the fourth of its five movements apparently offering Spoliansky’s own musical commentary on the Holocaust.
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![Liepaja Symphony Orchestra - Kārlis Lācis: Piano Concerto, Latvian Symphony (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/03/22/csvq1af26x8qb_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Liepaja Symphony Orchestra – Kārlis Lācis: Piano Concerto, Latvian Symphony (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:06:51 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © SKANI
World premiere recordings of Karlis Lacis’ Piano Concerto and Latvian Symphony (Latvju simfonija) by Liepaja Symphony Orchestra and pianist Agnese Eglina, recorded at Great Amber Concert Hall in Liepaja, Latvia (August 2021), Atvars Lakstigala conducting.
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Kamila Bydlowska, Matilda Lloyd, Liepaja Symphony Orchestra & Paul Mann – Arnold Griller: Orchestral Music, Vol. 3 (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:16:48 minutes | 1,29 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Toccata Classics
Three recent works by the English composer Arnold Griller (born 1937) are joined here by the earliest music he still acknowledges, the gentle and touching Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra (1955), which is informed by a serenity and wisdom uncommon in such a young composer. Like Berg’s Violin Concerto, Griller’s (2017) was born of his response to the loss of a young life, and shares Berg’s elegiac awareness of dying beauty; the Trumpet Concerto (2018), by way of deliberate contrast, accumulates energy and vivacity as it proceeds. Dances under an Autumn Sky (2017), subtitled ‘Orchestral Music in Six Scenes’, is a balletic blend of joie de vivre and intense instrumental drama, which shares Stravinsky’s fondness for rhythmic surprises and Tippett’s for angular, primal energy.
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