The national record label "SKANi" released a new music album by composer Andris Dzenītis on November 21 of this year, which was recorded by the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra at the concert hall "Lielais dzintars" under the baton of conductors Guntis Kuzma and Christian Lindberg.
The new album includes the composer's first two symphonies, as well as a fantasy based on the material from Emīls Dārziņš's not completely destroyed work “The Lonely Pine Tree. Falsification and epitaph".
The new album has already received positive attention from foreign critics: excerpts have been played on European radio stations, including Germany's prestigious "WDR 3", while the media outlet "Pizzicato" in Luxembourg has rated it with five stars.
"It is a special day when the premieres of symphonic music works by a contemporary composer are released. Nowadays, miniatures and programmatic works dominate the creative work of more and more composers, more and more composers choose more unconventional forms of expression, but expressing one's creative thought in the symphonic genre requires serious maturity and technical ability. It is not for nothing that this event has also attracted wide international attention, because Dzenītis is one of the most talented Latvian symphonists," says Egīls Šēfers, founder of the record label "SKANi".
The album's opening celebration took place at a concert dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Emīls Dārziņš in Riga, at the Emīls Dārziņš Music School, where, among other things, the school's symphony orchestra, conducted by Andris Vecumnieks, also performed "The Lonely Pine Tree". This work was commissioned by Andris Dzenītis for the opening of its 144th concert season by the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra; thus, it premiered in September 2024 at the Liepāja Concert Hall under the direction of Swedish trombonist and conductor Kristians Lindbergs.
Meanwhile, under the direction of the orchestra's artistic director Guntis Kuzma, the orchestra has recorded two of Dzenītis' first symphonies, which were also commissioned for orchestral concerts. The first symphony, "Love is Stronger," premiered by the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra in January 2018 at the "Lielais dzintars" expresses the fragmentation, disunity, and loss of values of our time. The composer once said that he wanted to write off all evil in it.
In contrast, the Second Symphony “Warm Wind” affirms light and love. It was commissioned for the 30th Liepāja International Stars Festival, where it was premiered in March 2022 by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Andris Poga.
"Andris Dzenītis. Symphonies No. 1 & 2" is available both in CD format and on the most popular online streaming sites.
By the way, for the conclusion of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra's 145th concert season, Andris Dzenītis has just completed a large-scale concert for percussion instruments with an orchestra. The orchestra will perform it for the first time at the "Lielais dzintars" concert hall together with percussionist Guntars Freibergs on May 16. Tickets for this concert are already available at "Biļešu paradīze".
