This week, the internationally recognized Latvian composer Lolita Ritmane took the place at the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra conductor's desk in the Liepaja Concert Hall “Lielais dzintars” to record the soundtrack for the US movie "The American Miracle", which will be on screens around the world next summer.
Back in early November, the Orchestra has recorded Ēriks Ešenvalds’ saxophone concert “Visions of Arctic: Sea”, which was premiered by the Orchestra at the Star Festival back in 2020, while at the beginning of next year, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra will not only work with the British record company “Toccata Classics” once again, but also, in collaboration with the national record company “Skani”, they will start working on the music album featuring music written by Andris Dzenītis.
The US film studio “Heroic Pictures” team is satisfied with the work process that is currently taking place in the Liepāja Concert Hall. They have been working on the recordings for the soundtrack of the new movie “Miracle of America” in Latvia since November 16. The movie executive producer Ralfs Augstroze has engaged both the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and the State Academic Choir “Latvija” for the music recording. The recording with the choir has already taken place in the Latvian Radio studio.
“I have already worked on a number of significant projects with Latvian choirs, orchestras and musicians,” says Lolita Ritmane. “One of them was the music I wrote for the significant Latvian film “Blizzard of Souls”. It is a great honor and a great pleasure that Ralfs asked me to compose the soundtrack for this new movie, and also to record it together with the world's best musicians!”
Filmed on different locations in the United States and the United Kingdom, “An American Miracle” tells the story of the founding period of the United States from 1750 to 1826. The film is based on the book by an American bestselling author Michael Medved and will be screened next summer, a year before the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026.
The Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and Lolita Ritmane first met back in 2009, when the singer Linda Leen was recording her Christmas album “Ziemasskaņas” (“Winter Sounds”), and Lolita Ritmane created arrangements and new interpretations for well-known melodies written by Raimonds Pauls and other world classics.
The Orchestra regularly takes part in premieres and commissions new works, for which it has received quite a number of awards. Guntis Kuzma, the chief conductor of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, has named playing, recording Latvian music and commissioning new works from our local composers as the main priority of his work, which is also consistently being done.
In early November, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra together with the saxophonist Oskars Petrauskis, under the direction of the British conductor Douglas Bostock, has recorded Ēriks Ešenvalds’ saxophone concert “Visions of Arctic: Sea”, which was premiered by the Orchestra at the Liepāja International Star Festival back in 2020. This concert will become the cornerstone of Oskars Petrauskis' upcoming solo album featuring music written by Ēriks Ešenvalds. Opera singer Marina Rebeka and organist Liene Andreta-Kalnciema will take part in the album recording process as special guest artists.
In collaboration with the “Skani” record company, next year the release of the long-awaited album of music by Andris Dzenītis is expected. In 2018, under the direction of Guntis Kuzma, the Orchestra in Liepāja premiered the First Symphony by Mr.Dzenītis “Love is Stronger”, the recording of which will be included in this album. During the opening of the Orchestra’s 144th season, a concert recording of the composer’s latest work was made – the piece “The Lonely Pine Tree. Falsification and Epitaph”, which is made from bits and pieces of a lost symphonic work written by Emīls Dārziņš. Next year, the Orchestra will also record Andris Dzenītis’ Second Symphony “Warm Wind”.
In January, the British record company “Toccata Classics” will return to Liepāja to work on another British music recording. This time, under the direction of the already well-known conductor Paul Mann, the Orchestra will record music written by composer Thomas Baron Pitfield. The Orchestra will also be accompanied by Emma McGrath, the concertmaster of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, in this recording session.
The Orchestra has previously developed close collaborations with the record labels Toccata Classics, Wergo and Odradek Records, its album Kurland Sounds was given an enthusiastic review by the BBC Music Magazine: “It is a refreshing selection of Latvian music, in which Eastern colour and Western sonority brilliantly merge into a breathtaking and operatic intensity.” Many albums released by the national record company “Skani” have also earned critical acclaim.
All the orchestra music releases can be foud here.
