Thanks, RK, for the Janis Kalnins Violin Concerto. I am a big fan of Latvian music and was unaware that this recording existed.
Frank
Kalnins is a very interesting and somewhat enigmatic composer for me
I have found his music to be quite uneven, but when he is good he is great..The Volin concerto is a wonderful work..
I finally acquired the CD of his Symphony of the Beatitudes (originally composed with texts in English, and later adapted for a Latvian version), with "The brethren cemetery" and the better-known New Brunswick Rhapsody. The symphony's originality is not immediately striking, however it is certainly worth investigating in more depth.
Actually, Jānis Kalniņš, from the only few works I've heard of his, puzzles me less than the much better-known Imants Kalniņš, whose music includes some very striking moments (in his frontal, almost provocative directness) alongside many whose substance I still fail to grasp.
Imants Kalniņš violin concerto is an awesome and highly original work..