Abols,Juris / Klava,Sigvards / Latvian Radio Choir Juris Abols: Xeniae CD

This album is a rather unusual world premiere of an opera that exists only as a recording. LRK's artistic director Sigvards Klava recalls a following encounter: "Abols brought over a bucket filled with sheets of music, and it took him a week of sorting them all out to put the opera score in the correct order. Sometimes he wasn't even sure which direction to hold the paper in order to read the music. I mean, truly splendid! We did the recording in the summer of 2010 in the basement of my house. Abols basically lived with us for that whole time and was present at almost all of the recording sessions. The singers arrived alone, or sometimes in pairs, and he tried to explain to each one the type of character they were to portray. We spent about a month and a half on the project. He also played his soprano saxophone; that was his vaunted psychodelia (and no, he didn't say 'psychedelia', as would be correct). When it came to jazz licks, he liked to play the walking bass, because it's impossible to mess up.

1. Hic Est 2. Ir Dzive Kustiba / Life Is Movement 3. Ja Nu Jums Patiesi Bailes / In Case YouÆre Really Afraid 4. Taidas Monologs Un Arija / Tha?sÆ Monologue And Aria 5. Marciala Padoms, Zevam Leda Deva Par Velti / MartialÆs Advice, Leda Gave It Up To Zeus For Nothing 6. Hoetiskais Tango / Hoetic Tango 7. Pakalpuses Aplukosanas Dziesma / The Song About Looking At OneÆs Bottom 8. Oda Arija / The MosquitoÆs Aria 9. Zevs Varenais / Mighty Zeus 10. Vina Dziesma / The Wine Song 11. Marcials Apjauta / Martial Enquires 12. K-Suns Vadmotivs / Leitmotif 13. Vingrosanas Skolotajs / Gym Teacher 14. Demostrata Monologs / DemostratusÆ Monologue 15. Marciala Monologs I / MartialÆs Monologue I 16. Ko Lielies / What Are You Boasting About 17. Marciala Monologs II / MartialÆs Monologue II 18. Mizanscena / Mise-en-sc?ne 19. Cukas Arija / The PigÆs Aria 20. Netiras Naudas Atmazgasana / Laundering Of Dirty Money 21. Cinisanas Uz Dzivibu Un Navi / Fighting For Life Or Death 22. Marciala Recitativs, Fanfaras / MartialÆs Recitative, Fanfares 23. Falliskais Rituals / Phallic Ritual 24. Korifejs, Muza / Coryphaeus, Muse 25. Marciala Monologs III / MartialÆs Monologue III 26. Tu, Lielais Gudriniek! / You Big Know-It-All! 27. Finals / Finale