Latvian music

[black]

It worked! Thank you so much, Atsushi!
Black

[Dylan]

The Skulte 5th is a marvelous piece - many thanks for making it available, indeed, all the music by this considerable figure, whose work I only previously knew from one small piece on a Melodiya LP years ago...Now to try (with some trepidation) the "Youth" Symphony. ..

[Latvian]

Since there's been ongoing confusion about the provenance of uploads of various Janis Ivanovs symphonies, and continuing requests for the same, I thought I would alleviate the confusion and satisfy everyone's requests. I have copies of all the Melodiya LP issues of Ivanovs'  symphonies (and other works, as well). Several years ago I digitized all of them for my personal listening, so yesterday I created zip files of all the symphony recordings and today am uploading all of them to Mediafire. By the end of the day I hope to have the project completed and will then post the link in a new downloads page.

Some caveats and additional details:

Melodiya never issued all the Ivanovs symphonies, only #4-12 and #14-21. During Melodiya's LP days, the scores and orchestral parts to #1-3 were presumed missing, lost in the course of WWII bombardment of Riga. However, they did turn up sometime in the early 1990s or so (I don't think #1 was ever truly lost, since it was performed outside Latvia in the 1930s by Lovro von Matacic, among others).

#13 was never released commercially, even though a studio recording was made for broadcast. Onno von Rijen's Ivanovs otherwise excellent discography claims it was a Melodiya LP, but this was wishful thinking, as he was not able to provide a catalog number for it, nor has anyone ever seen a copy of an actual LP. Why it was never issued and thus formed a gap in Melodiyas survey of all the other then-available Ivanovs symphonies is a mystery. The spoken text of #13 is a paean to Lenin, and it seems to me that this would have been an ideal work for the Soviets to endorse. Also, the music itself is very good, and prime Ivanovs of the period. Probably there was some unknown subtext to the situation...

So, for the purpose of completeness, my uploads will include in addition to the digitized LPs a concert recording of #1, and the unreleased broadcast recording of #13. Sorry, I've never encountered any recordings or performances of #2 or #3 other than the ones issued on Cameo or Marco Polo CDs. Anyone wanting to complete their collection of Ivanovs symphonies will need to purchase these CDs.

I plan to also upload in the near future some additional Ivanovs symphony recordings, including a live performance of the revised version of #21. Also, the concertos and other works, if there is interest.

I hope this clears up any lingering confusion, and provides some listening enjoyment!

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks, Latvian, a model post!

[eschiss1]

re Ivanovs 2 and 3... you've only encountered one recording of each symphony?
...
are you saying the recordings released on Cameo are the same as the ones released on Marco Polo???...
eep.
(Marco Polo symphony 2 (1995) - 8:16/12:21/9:17. Cameo (1982 recording) - 9:35/13:06/8:56 . hrm again... ) (29:54 v 31:37)
(in context, guessing that is not what you meant)

[Latvian]

are you saying the recordings released on Cameo are the same as the ones released on Marco Polo???

Sorry, I wasn't quite awake when I wrote that post this morning and momentarily forgot about the Marco Polo disc. Thanks for reminding me, Eric. I've edited my previous post accordingly. I will however, admit to having a strong preference for the Cameo reissues of Latvian Radio recordings with various conductors. While Yablonsky is a fine conductor and has done much excellent work for Naxos, and helped advance awareness and interest in Ivanovs, I feel that he really doesn't understand Ivanovs' sound world as well as the other conductors on the Cameo releases. Maybe this is why I overlooked mentioning his recordings this morning. 

The symphonies have now been uploaded (pending moderator approval). I also want to make it clear that my intention wasn't to step on the toes of any previous uploaders of Ivanovs symphonies! There just seemed to be so much ongoing confusion that I thought it would be helpful to clarify, organize, and expand the Ivanovs resources at the forum.

[Greg K]

A marvelous contribution, Latvian.  Sincere thanks for the Ivanovs uploads.  Now, - might it be possible for you to make available the remainder of the Skulte symphonies?  (Some of us refuse to be satisfied for very long).

[Dundonnell]

Thank you very much for the clarifications

The situation was so confusing (in my own mind, I hasten to add ) that I had to construct a chart of the 21 symphonies with separate columns for the Cameo, Marco Polo/Naxos, Melodiya and other recordings to get it all sorted

Three questions though:

1) Symphony No.7 on Melodiya is conducted by Edgars Tons. I had the conductor as Leonid Vigners. Can you confirm?

2) Symphony no.21 I had the conductor as Normunds Schnee rather than Vasily Sinaisky. Was this perhaps a different performance you made available
           previously?

3) A number of the recordings I had previously noted as the Latvian State Radio Symphony Orchestra are now given as the Latvian State Symphony Orchestra.
    This applies to Nos. 13, 18 and 19. Is this the same orchestra? Which is correct?

Sorry to be a nuisance

[Mark Thomas]

What a treasure trove, Latvian. Sincerest thanks for your hard work in uploading these symphonies.

[britishcomposer]

2) Symphony no.21 I had the conductor as Normunds Schnee rather than Vasily Sinaisky. Was this perhaps a different performance you made available
           previously?

Just for clarification, Colin: it was me who uploaded no. 21, a concert broadcast conducted by N. Schnee. Therefore you can trust Latvian whose version is from LP!

[Sicmu]

The first Symphony is actually a piano piece ( which one BTW ?) 

[Dundonnell]

2) Symphony no.21 I had the conductor as Normunds Schnee rather than Vasily Sinaisky. Was this perhaps a different performance you made available
           previously?

Just for clarification, Colin: it was me who uploaded no. 21, a concert broadcast conducted by N. Schnee. Therefore you can trust Latvian whose version is from LP!

Oh...indeed . Of course It is hard keeping track

Thanks for that further clarification.

[Latvian]

1) Symphony No.7 on Melodiya is conducted by Edgars Tons. I had the conductor as Leonid Vigners. Can you confirm?

You are correct -- Vīgners is the conductor in Melodiya's Ivanov #7. Not fully awake this morning! I've edited the uploads posting accordingly, along with some other little details. Thanks for noticing the mixup!

2) Symphony no.21 I had the conductor as Normunds Schnee rather than Vasily Sinaisky. Was this perhaps a different performance you made available previously?

britishcomposer is correct -- Sinaisky is the conductor on the Melodiya LP of #21, Šnē is the conductor in the Latvian Radio broadcast that he made available.

3) A number of the recordings I had previously noted as the Latvian State Radio Symphony Orchestra are now given as the Latvian State Symphony Orchestra.
    This applies to Nos. 13, 18 and 19. Is this the same orchestra? Which is correct?

Latvian State Symphony is correct, as far as the LPs of #18 & #19 are concerned, and matches every citation of #13 I've seen. However, there often seems to be some confusion in orchestral attribution at Latvian Radio, so if you've gotten that information from their broadcasts, that may be the source of the discrepancy. I've noticed this in the past with a couple of symphonic works. I find it incredulous that the same conductor would record the same work with two different orchestras, in seemingly identical performances (including timings), unless at one time they were the same orchestra and were named differently depending on the purpose of the recording? I'll have to ask some of my Latvian colleagues.

What a treasure trove, Latvian. Sincerest thanks for your hard work in uploading these symphonies.

You're very welcome! I'm glad I can reciprocate to the many members of this forum who have provided me with such an embarrasment of musical riches over the past few months, including works I've waited for years to hear! And I'm delighted that so many members have a strong interest in Latvian music, which I've championed for many years in many ways. (And, yes, I am Latvian by birth, not just a fan of Latvian music! )

might it be possible for you to make available the remainder of the Skulte symphonies?

Certainly! I'll add them to the list of music I've promised recently (unless someone else wants to jump in ahead of me with them -- I know at least a couple of members of the forum have copies as well).

A few days' rest now, and then I'll post some more Ivanovs works.

[Latvian]

The first Symphony is actually a piano piece ( which one BTW ?)

I've never heard that claim before! Very interesting...

I took a look just now at a couple of books by Latvian musicologist Ludvigs Kārkliņš, where he discusses Ivanovs' symphonies in some detail (one book is entirely devoted to Ivanovs' symphonies), and he doesn't make this claim. He does state, in the other book, that the work was Ivanovs' graduation piece for his composition class with Jāzeps Vītols at the Latvian Conservatory, so I would infer that Vītols expected him to create a completely original work for this purpose.

Nor does musicologist Arvīds Bomiks mention any such origin in his worklist of Ivanovs' music for Musica Baltica.

I'm curious -- where did you read or hear this? I'll be very interested to do further research if it is indeed the case!

[Dundonnell]

Thank you very much indeed for the detailed and extremely helpful response

I am sure that David Fanning: "Ivanovs is more competent than inspired" - would be amazed at the time and effort being expended