Description
Commemorating the 135th anniversary of Latvian classic Janis Medins (1890-1966), the Latvian label Skani releases an album recorded by pianist Reinis Zarins and the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, featuring the first Latvian piano concerto, available to the wider public in recording for the very first time. Medins's 1934 concerto is complemented by piano miniatures and a Sonatina all in new studio recordings. Pianist Reinis Reinis Zarins says of this recording: "Medins's Piano Concerto now holds a special place in my heart, and I readily wish to present it to the world as a true classic of Latvian music. Remarkably, despite being the very first Latvian piano concerto, composed over 90 years ago, it had never been released in a modern and widely accessible recording. Today, that dream has come true--thanks in large part to the generous involvement of the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra and conductor Kaspars Adamsons. We had already performed the piece together in a concert marking Latvia's Independence Day in 2022, and it was clear to me that we had to reunite also for this recording. If the Piano Concerto is the trunk of a mighty oak on this album, the solo pieces are its branches and twigs. Before the recording, I spent time in music libraries, reading through all of Medins's piano works, including many I had never heard of before. I was especially intrigued by the compositions written during his exile--perhaps because they stand out so strikingly among his better-known works. Of course, an album lasting 70-80 minutes requires making choices. So I picked as wide a range of pieces as I could -- something from his early period, something from his final years, something familiar, and something entirely new. One of the biggest surprises for me was the Ballade, composed in 1922 and dedicated to the outstanding pianist Lilija Kalnina-Ozolina, whose name is inseparable from the history of the Piano Concerto. I was astonished to discover that this epic piece had never been recorded. Now, at last, it can be heard by all."
