Asnate Rancāne, beyond being the leader of the popular Latvian ethno-pop ensemble Tautumeitas, is also an experienced and highly knowledgeable folklorist and musicologist who has studied not just Latvian folklore and folk music, but also folk songs of many European cultures. For more than a decade now, she has had a productive creative relationship with double bassist Stanislav Yudin, and the duo have engaged in many musical explorations inspired by European folk music. Their first album – Op. 2 – was released in 2017, and explored not just Latvian folk songs, but also songs from Bulgaria, Ukraine, and elsewhere. The duo released their second album – Op. 3 – in 2026, and that album continues and expands their musical visions and horizons.

Much like its predecessor, Op. 3 cannot truly be considered a ‘folk music’ album – though all of the songs on the album are inspired by folk songs, they are more the starting point, an inspiration for improvisation and experimentation. This often means that, in the end, there are only faint traces of the original folk song. However, what makes this collection of recordings so engrossing and compelling is the duo’s presentation of this musical journey – the creative process that takes them from the original song to the end result.

Beyond Rancāne and Yudin, the sonic palette on the album is supplemented by additional musicians including pianist Edgars Cīrulis, violinist Aleksejs Bahirs, Arvydas Kazlauskas playing the saxophones, and Artis Orubs on percussion.

Many of the works on the album have an improvisational nature. In an interview with Latvijas Radio Klasika, Rancāne delved into the creative process, such as on ‘Kur zeme’, where Yudin simply started playing when the recording started, and Rancāne combined that with the Prussian folk song “Mīla swāiksta Saulīka” (the dear, bright Sun). Yudin’s double bass traverses a broad sonic range, from a thundering introduction to a more somber middle section, while Rancāne repeats the folk song words as a kind of mantra, creating a layered, intricate modern interpretation of this ancient song.

Rancāne has often included Balkan songs and motifs in her recordings, and Op. 3 also contains songs from Bulgaria, such as the ‘Radina’, a song about a girl who has married, but longs for her father’s home. Rancāne and Yudin, along with their colleagues, create an authentic Balkan atmosphere with their rhythmic and dynamic performance. Yudin, while ostensibly a jazz musician, displays his innate grasp and understanding of folk music in this recording.

The geographical radius of the duo’s musical explorations expands to include the British Isles, specifically Scotland with their performance of the folk song ‘Johnny Lad’, as well as ‘Harp Song of the Dane Woman’, based on a poem by Rudyard Kipling. Rancāne provides an emotional, somber performance on ‘Harp Song’, while Yudin provides an energetic, animated foundation for ‘Johnny Lad’.

Further advancing and developing their creative explorations of the folk songs of Europe, Op. 3 vividly displays the talents of singer Asnate Rancāne and double bassist Stanislav Yudin. The engrossing musical journey on the album begins in Latvia, travels south to the Balkans, then to the northwest to the British Isles, all the while creating distinctive and original interpretations and performances.

For further information, please visit the Asnate Rancāne and Stanislav Yudin Bandcamp page.

Op.3

Asnate Rancāne and Stanislav Yudin

Jersika Records, 2026

Track listing:

1. Kur zeme

2. Kiukuoja zagiuze uobelī

3. Rotā

4. Bre, Petrunko

5. Kade pārnāksi?

6. Radina

7. Harp song of the Dane woman

8. Tumša nakts

9. Johnny Lad

Latvian pianist Dzintra Erliha, beyond being an award winning, internationally renowned pianist, has also established and confirmed her skills as a composer. Her first album of works for solo piano, Daylight, was released in 2025, and she has followed up on that collection with 2026’s Impressions from Afar, released on the Prima Classic music label.

As the album title and song titles indicate, these are Erliha’s musical visions of various places and events, and Erliha creates vivid melodic paintings in her piano compositions.

The album as a whole has a calm and relaxing, even dreamy, character. In contrast to some of her previous recordings of the works of other composers, which often could be musically tempestuous and occasionally discordant, Impressions from Afar is more melodic and peaceful, providing instrumental works that will envelop the listener with their lyrical quality.

Erliha has now been living in New York City for the past few years, and the album includes a musical tribute to her new home. Evoking the rich musical history of the city, with its jazz rhythms and lilting melodies, Erliha sweeps the listener into a picturesque journey.

The relaxed atmosphere of the album is perhaps most clearly revealed in the composition with the title of ‘Calmness’, with its gentle and tender melody, inspires a serenity within the listener. The delicate, yet optimistic ‘Morning’ evokes the positive mood of a new dawn and day, while the flowing ‘Waterfall’ is a pastoral image that expresses the beauty of nature.

Though many of the works on the album are in major keys, the striking ‘Tears’, tinged with sadness and grief, provides the emotional balance on the album. Like many of the works on the album, there is a deeply personal aspect to this, and Erliha’s performance reveals the deep emotional resonance of the music.

Engrossing and absorbing, Erliha’s solo piano compositions on Impressions from Afar will draw the listener into a colorful and resplendent musical world. Creating lovely impressionistic musical paintings, Erliha displays a rich understanding and deep emotional breadth that will resonate with listeners. Meditative and spiritually enriching, the works on Impressions from Afar further establish Erliha’s compositional talents and skill at writing music that, on an emotional level, can deeply touch listeners.

For further information, please visit Dzintra Erliha’s website and the Prima Classic website.

Impressions From Afar

Dzintra Erliha

Prima Classic, 2026

Track listing:

1. New York City
2. Morning
3. Rainbow
4. Memories
5. Waterfall
6. Valse
7. Calmness
8. Reflection
9. Happiness
10. Dance
11. Choral
12. Tears
13. Prayer
14. Power of Love
15. Starry Night
16. Together
17. Silence

Perhaps, internationally, the two best known composers from the Baltic countries are Estonian Arvo Pärt and Latvian Pēteris Vasks. Each has an individual, unique style, influenced and inspired by religion and spirituality, and both endured artistic restriction during the Soviet occupation of their respective homelands. Stylistically, however, Pärt is more of a minimalist, with his own original tintinnabuli (little bells) style, while Vasks can be more dramatic and emotional. The works of both composers have moved and touched listeners throughout the world. Also, each has recently celebrated a major anniversary – Pärt celebrated his 90^th birthday in 2025 and Vasks his 80^th in 2026.

To celebrate these anniversaries, as well as their contributions to Baltic music, distinguished Latvian organist Iveta Apkalna released an album of solo organ works by the two composers. Entitled simply Pärt & Vasks, the album was released in 2026 by the Berlin Classics label.

Apkalna has established herself as one of the premiere organists internationally and has performed with many European orchestras and won many awards, among them, according to her website, was that “in 2005 she became the first organist ever to receive an ECHO Klassik as “Instrumentalist of the Year””.

The album is bookended by two longer form works by Vasks. The first is ‘Te Deum’, a powerful and tonally rich composition. Here Vasks’ sacred elements shine through, with this musical work of praise reaching spiritual and emotional peaks, with moments of somber reflection. Apkalna provides an enrapturing performance of this work, skillfully revealing the many nuances and layers in this majestic work.

The album concludes with Vasks’ expansive ‘Viatore’ (‘Passenger’), a work originally for string orchestra but later arranged for solo organ. According the Schott music publisher’s website, the work is ‘the story of a wanderer who arrives in this world, grows up in it, develops, falls in love, fills himself up and then departs’, and, appropriately for this album, is dedicated to Arvo Pärt. Gentle and reflective at its beginning, then building to a emotionally deep climax, Apkalna’s performance provides a vivid illustration for this engaging story.

In contrast with the often dramatic and even stormy works by Vasks, Pärt’s compositions are much more subdued, even austere at times. ‘Pari intervallo’, somber and melancholic, barely rises above a whisper in the sound of the organ, but is still an emotionally rich work, and Apkalna provides the needed restraint and gentle touch to let this quiet, yet spiritually resonant composition to softly unfold and bloom.

Pärt’s compositions have a calming, serene atmosphere to them, such as in the tender ‘Spiegel im Spiegel’, one of the composers best known works. Though the melody is deceptively simple, Apkalna provides a moving interpretation of this beautifully meditative work.

Arvo Pärt and Pēteris Vasks, through their decades of composing some of the most memorable and beautiful music to come from the Baltics, have immeasurably raised the profile of Estonia and Latvia throughout the world. With a deep reverence for the musical contributions of both, as well as with dynamic and rich performances, organist Iveta Apkalna has recorded a fitting tribute to both composers.

For further information, please visit Iveta Apkalna’s website as well as the Berlin Classics website.

Pärt & Vasks

Iveta Apkalna, organ

Berlin Classics, 2026

Track listing:

1. Te Deum – Pēteris Vasks
2. Pari Intervallo – Arvo Pärt
3. Spiegel im Spiegel – Arvo Pärt
4. Annum per Annum – Arvo Pärt
5. Trivium – Arvo Pärt
6. Viatore – Pēteris Vasks