The Glittering Wind

The Glittering Wind

Santa Ratniece - Liepāja Concerto No. 7
Marina Gribinčika - "Kolkas raga viļņi" ("The Waves of Cape Kolka")
Maija Einfelde - "Un pār visu spīd saule trejkrāsaina…" ("And a Tricolour Sun Shines on Everything…")
Gundega Šmite - "Vēja mirdzums" ("The Glittering Wind")
Santa Ratniece - "Aureola"
Selga Mence - "Viļņu spēles" ("Games of the Waves")

Artists

Liepāja Symphony Orchestra
Gintars Rinkevičs - conductor
Atvars Lakstīgala - conductor
Vestards Šimkus - piano

Publisher

SKANI

Year

2020

Where to buy

skani.lv

REVIEWS

“This Skani production gathers music by five female Latvian composers. In her Liepaja Concerto for Piano and (an underemployed) Orchestra Santa Ratniece uses the piano for all kinds of bell and chime sounds. The music was inspired by Tibetan bells and is finely woven and delicately played. If you wait for something to happen, you have to be patient until the last movement, although something is clearly brewing up already in the 4th movement. After about 22 minutes there is a little more action in the music and the bells are attacked by brass and drums. In Marina Gribincika’s The Waves of Cape Kolka we hear the sea at the Latvian coast on a windy day. Maija Einfeldes and a Tricolour Sun Shines on Everything…is the most atmospheric piece on the CD, mysteriously tracing the colours that unfold under the sun. The tone poem The Glittering Wind by Gundega Smite impresses with its very virtuoso treatment of the orchestra and multi-layered sound textures. Selga Mence’s Games of the Waves is also a tone poem, very narrative, and another piece related to the sea that has inspired composers for centuries. There’s really a lot to hear in that music… The performances are first-rate, and the recorded sound is excellent too.”

Remy Franck, www.pizzicato.lu