The executive producer of the film and Heroic Pictures operational manager Ralfs Augstroze has engaged the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, which will be conducted by the composer herself, and the State Academic Choir for the music recording Latvia under the leadership of conductor Māras Sirmās. Recordings will take place in the concert hall The big amber and in the first studio of Latvian Radio.
“This is the fulfillment of a 35-year dream – to record the symphonic soundtrack of a big film in Latvia is an indescribable privilege and thrill for me, and to do it in Liepāja is personally even more meaningful, because Liepāja is the city of my mother’s birth and childhood, while my daughter Lija Aleksandra Hanzovska she is currently a member of the first violin group of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra,” says Ralfs Augstroze. “My mother and her parents fled Latvia during the Second World War, and now my American-born Latvian daughter and her family live and work in Liepaja – the place of my mother’s birth and childhood. It is also a miracle that after more than 65 years of separation, they have finally reunited both ends of the circle,” he emphasizes.
“I have already worked on several important projects with Latvian choirs, orchestras and musicians,” says Lolita Ritmane. “One of them was my music for an important Latvian film Blizzard of souls. It’s a great honor and a great pleasure that Ralf asked me to compose the soundtrack for this new feature film, as well as to record it together with the world’s best musicians!” Music composed by Lolita Ritmanes for the film Blizzard of souls won the top honor of the Society of American Composers and Authors and was shortlisted for the Academy Awards Oscar in the second round or Short List.
A series of miracles
Filmed on location in the United States and the United Kingdom, American Miracle tells the story of the founding period of the United States from 1750 to 1826. This was a period when countless potentially disastrous and practically impossible scenarios took highly successful turns to achieve American independence from England, the world’s most militarily powerful nation at the time. Most of the founding fathers of the United States considered this success miraculous and believed in the “divine hand of providence”, as General and first President of the United States George Washington called it.
American wonder the screenplay is based on the book of the same name by the American bestselling author Michael Medved, and the film will be released next summer, one year before the 250th anniversary of the United States, which is expected in 2026. On the other hand, Ralfs Augstroze reveals about the choice of the composer of the music: “It is exciting to work professionally for the first time with Lolita, an acquaintance of mine for several decades. She brings her unique creative musical gifts to this important film of the 250s in the United States. It is both Lolita’s and my wish that everyone these efforts would promote further and more frequent cooperation between Hollywood and the very talented Latvian musicians; an interaction that I initially hoped to establish already 35 years ago. God willing, Lolita and I will be the catalyst for this to become a reality.”
Working on the recording of the film’s soundtrack will not be Lolita Ritmanes’ first encounter with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, singer Linda Leen’s Christmas album was recorded winter sounds, and Ritmane created arrangements and new interpretations of well-known melodies by Raymond Paul and other world classics.
Random but fateful
The path to the involvement of the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra in the US film studio Heroic Pictures in the upcoming film the american dream both are the result of a chain of happy coincidences. LSO director Uldis Lipskis tells about it: “Ralfs Augstroze had noticed news about the South Kurzeme music festival organized by our orchestra on the Internet. Rimbeniek, which in its name honors the statesman and clergyman, former mayor of Liepāja Evaldas Rimbenieks, who founded the Liepāja Opera in 1922 and restored the Liepaja Philharmonic in 1927. Since Ralfs Augstroze knows the wife of the former mayor of Liepāja, Evalds Rimbenieks, the grandson of Evalds Kuplis, Janea Kupli, who, unbeknownst to us, had already written a book about this remarkable man and had already gone to Latvia to collect materials in church archives, Ralfs wrote to me. We met in Latvia. He was a guest at the festival Rimbeniek and books Lamb and lion Rimbenieks at the opening last year. Then we also started talking about this film, and Ralf asked if we would be interested in cooperation.”
Uldis Lipskis emphasizes that the film, whose message is about the founding of the American state and which is made in preparation for the anniversary of the United States, is a great audacity with the claim to create a cult film for the American nation. Right after the holidays, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra together with Lolita Ritmani have planned four days of recording session, because the material is voluminous. In Lipski’s estimation, this will be a win-win deal, because it would be much more expensive to hire a symphony orchestra in the US, and Ralf Augstroz is satisfied with our level.
Ralf Augstroz and Lolita Ritman will be joined by the film’s executive producers Douglas Maddox and Timothy Mahoney, who is also the film’s director, as well as Mahoney’s spouse Jill Mahoney, who will all be visiting Latvia for the first time. The participation of Lolita Ritmanes’ husband – recording engineer, sound director and music producer – Mark Matson will be especially important in ensuring the quality of the soundtrack.
Already before the holidays, this Saturday, in Riga, the State Academic Choir will be held in the first studio of Latvian Radio Latvia recording under the direction of Māras Sirmā. “The choir will record its part of the film’s music in four hours, but Lolita (Ritmane) will put everything together with the orchestra in Liepāja,” reveals choir director Māris Ošlejs. “We are stuck, we will rehearse for two days before that. The musical material is not complicated, but there is a lot of it.”
For the choir Latvia already has experience in recording film music tracks, where the specificity of the work is that the recordings take place in different places (even in different countries!), then they are precisely synchronized at the same tempo and connected already in the editing studio. “When we wrote the music for the film perfume, we did it in Riga together with conductor Kristjanas Jervi, but conductor Simon Rattle arranged it together with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,” recalls Māris Ošlej. The youngest member of the choir Latvia contribution to film music is for the film by Mar Martinsson The land that sings the newly recorded ending song heard at the end of the film during the credits.
“When one of the producers of the film – Ralfs Augstroze – approached me about the possibility of composing music for the film The American Miraclerealized that I would have to compete with others first. Director Tim Mahoney and co-producer Douglas Maddock have collaborated with several great composers. I prepared sample demos – excerpts from previously composed works – to give an insight into my music. The fact that out of the samples, the director especially liked the music I composed for the film Blizzard of Souls, Women Warriors and Tahlequah and all three projects recorded in Latvia with Latvian artists brought me great joy and satisfaction. When I was given this job, I realized that music must be written in Latvia. Ralph is the champion of the music for this film and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for everything he has done to make this project happen. We get together to record an hour and a half of music.
From the beginning, it was not planned that there would be a choir, but the director really liked the choir Latvia and the artistic contribution of Māras Sirmā For a blizzard of souls! Tim also really wanted that unique sound for his film. We will write a chorus with Vari Kurmiņa on Saturday. I am really looking forward to spending four days with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and enjoying the great The big amber with Jānis Straumi at the sound console,” from the Los Angeles airport on the way to Latvia For days attractive Lolita Ritmane.
Source: www.diena.lv
