Ivanovs: Symphonies Nos. 15 & 16 Latvian National Symphony Orchestra & Guntis Kuzma

• Jānis Ivanovs (1906 - 1983): Symphony No. 15 in B-Flat Minor "Symphonia Ipsa":
• 1 Ivanovs: Symphony No. 15 in B-Flat Minor "Symphonia Ipsa": I. Moderato 10:17
• 2 Ivanovs: Symphony No. 15 in B-Flat Minor "Symphonia Ipsa": II. Molto allegro 05:17
• 3 Ivanovs: Symphony No. 15 in B-Flat Minor "Symphonia Ipsa": III. Molto andante (Adagio) 08:55
• 4 Ivanovs: Symphony No. 15 in B-Flat Minor "Symphonia Ipsa": IV. Moderato. Allegro 06:58
• Symphony No. 16 in E-Flat Major:
• 5 Ivanovs: Symphony No. 16 in E-Flat Major: I. Moderato. Allegro moderato 11:09
• 6 Ivanovs: Symphony No. 16 in E-Flat Major: II. Allegro 03:10
• 7 Ivanovs: Symphony No. 16 in E-Flat Major: III. Andante. Pesante 09:44
• 8 Ivanovs: Symphony No. 16 in E-Flat Major: IV. Allegro moderato 06:18
• Total Runtime 01:01:48

Info for Ivanovs: Symphonies Nos. 15 & 16

Janis Ivanovs' (1906-1983) Symphonies Nos. 15 &16 see their world premiere release in this 2021 studio album by the most prominent Latvian orchestra the LNSO. Available previously only as broadcast copies and ageing LP records from the 70ies and 80ies, these timeless pieces by perhaps the most talented Latvian symphonic composer are now available to a wider audience.

Ivanovs' Symphony No. 15 is titled "Symphonia ipsa", or, the "symphony of itself. But it's no secret that such a description could pertain to almost all of his symphonies. In this context, another well-known observation is perhaps even more important, namely, that in every worthwhile work of art, the composer first expresses the most important truths about his or her era, then about society as a whole, and only then about him- or herself. And this fully applies to the art of Ivanovs.

He composed the Symphony No. 15 in 1972 and the Symphony No. 16 in 1974. Formally, a turning point exists between these two works, because No. 16 marks the beginning of a series of late scores that, to quote musicologist Mikus Ceze, "portray a sense of the times during the decline of Leonid Brezhnev". However, Ivanovs was never much influenced by the optimism of the 1960s, which in the cultural realm of the pre-stagnation era had been sparked by a hint of slightly greater political freedom, obvious progress in the exact sciences, unprecedented success in spaceflight and, yes, also economic growth. As already mentioned, he saw and understood things more clearly than others, which is why the Symphony No. 15 sounds concordant with the next symphony.

For this reason, it is worth tracing all of Ivanovs' symphonies to notice at what point the key conceptual patterns that are fully expressed in his musical thinking of the 1970s materialised. This was a society that lived in lies, and Ivanovs saw this very clearly. The world view symbolically portrayed in his music contains a discrepancy between illusion and reality, official propaganda and what is seen on a day-to-day level, precise rationality and never-suppressible emotional feeling and unconscious impulse, mass culture and high art, which, despite politically proclaimed support, felt more and more like an endangered species.

Here we hear the discussions of a creative and independent individual with himself as he struggled with egoism, with the phantoms of consciousness, with weaknesses in character, will and intellect, posing questions of an existential nature and at the same time being well aware of the fact that there can be no unequivocal answers. And then a tear appears in the metaphysical fabric of the symphony that reveals a view towards a different reality, one that demands concepts such as rescue, salvation, forgiveness, equalisation. But the composer remains attached to his era and his environment; the need for religious mystery appears as a distant promise, but delving into psychological mysteries provides relief for only a moment.

"Edgy, angst-ridden, occasionally a little sinister and often enthralling, the Latvian Janis Ivanovs’s soundworld in these symphonies is not a million miles away from that of his contemporary Shostakovich. Well worth exploring." (BBC Music Magazine)

"Lovers of late Romantic Russian and Soviet-era repertoire will readily warm to these works here even if Ivanovs’s style lacks the passion of Tchaikovsky or Shostakovich." (Gramophone Magazine)

Latvian National Symphony Orchestra
Guntis Kuzma, conductor

The Latvian National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO)
is one of the cornerstones of Latvian national culture. Founded in 1926 as the Riga Radio Centre Orchestra, the LNSO has borne its current name since 1990.

The orchestra is a six-time winner of the Grand Music Award, Latvia’s highest honour in classical music. In May 2022, Finnish Tarmo Peltokoski became the Music and Artistic Director of the LNSO.

​ In Autumn 2021, Estonian Kristiina Poska, Chief Conductor of the Flanders Symphony Orchestra, became the Principal Guest Conductor of the LNSO.

​ The orchestra has been led by many brilliant talents and experienced significant growth under the baton of Vassily Sinaisky, Conductor Emeritus of the LNSO since 2017. More recently, notable contributions have been made by Olari Elts, Karel Mark Chichon, and Andris Poga, who was the Music Director and Chief Conductor of the LNSO from 2013 until 2021, when he became the Chief Conductor of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Adviser to the LNSO.

​ In recent years, the LNSO has performed at the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, the Grand Théâtre of Aix-en-Provence, among many other important European concert halls. The orchestra has participated in the Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron in France, the Bratislava Music Festival in Slovakia and has taken the stage in Germany, Switzerland, and the Baltic States. ​

Giving concerts in Latvia and abroad, the LNSO has collaborated with Ksenija Sidorova, Baiba Skride, Eva Bindere, Frank Peter Zimmermann and Vineta Sareika, Kristina Blaumane and Alexander Knyazev, Nicholas Angelich, Boris Berezovsky, Lucas Debargue, Lukas Geniušas, Daumants Liepiņš, Andrejs Osokins, Georgijs Osokins, Vestard Shimkus and Reinis Zariņš.

​ The LNSO regularly features in recordings of the Finnish label Ondine, focusing on the music by the most prominent Latvian composer of the 20th century Tālivaldis Ķeniņš, as well as the Latvian national record label SKANI. ​

In the second half of the 20th century, the LNSO collaborated with Arvīds Jansons, Kurt Masur, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Kirill Kondrashin, Yuri Simonov, Neeme Järvi, Krzysztof Penderecki. Many maestros have guided the LNSO in recent times as well: Paavo Järvi, Mariss Jansons, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Andris Nelsons, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Gintaras Rinkevičius a.o. The orchestra has also worked with renowned young conductors such as Klaus Mäkelä, Maxim Emelyanychev, and Tarmo Peltokoski.

Guntis Kuzma
is the LNSO’s conductor since the 2014/2015 season. Successful leadership in concerts with the LNSO, multiple collaborations with the Sinfonietta Rīga and Sinfonia concertante orchestra, the Liepāja SO, the JVLMA Orchestra, and the Latvian Festival Orchestra in summer, 2018.

Guntis Kuzma and the LNSO’s performance of Ādolfs Skulte’s Symphony No. 5 received great praise in the Grand Concert of Latvian Symphony Music in January, 2018. Won Grand Music Award of Latvia for outstanding interpretation in 2018. Assistant professor and head of the Woodwind Instrument Class at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. LNSO’s principal clarinet from 2008 to 2014. Principal clarinet of the Sinfonietta Rīga since the orchestra’s formation in 2006 until 2015.

Enjoys performing in chamber music projects; a fan of contemporary music, he has performed the clarinet in premieres of several new works. Nominated for Latvia’s Grand Music Award 2012 For Outstanding Work in an Ensemble.

This album contains no booklet.