Divine Art Records

Composer: Sergei Prokofiev

  • Prokofiev: Cinderella & Romeo and Juliet Ballet Suites

    Prokofiev: Cinderella & Romeo and Juliet Ballet Suites

    Of the major works of Sergei Prokofiev, none (apart perhaps from Peter and the Wolf) have become so well loved by a wide audience as the ballets Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet. From the stage productions, to the orchestral suites, to the piano versions, many of these pieces are universally recognised.

    In the 1950s, four pieces from each ballet were arranged for clarinet and piano by Bronislav Prorvich, a clarinettist with the Bolshoi Theatre. Strangely, so far as we know, these sparkling arrangements have never previously been recorded. Ian Scott and his producer Malcolm McMillan have added a further 12 movements from the ballets, many of which strongly featured the clarinet in the original orchestral version. This has resulted in a lovely collection of pieces that are at once very familiar but also heard in a completely new light.

    SUPPORTED BY THE OLEG PROKOFIEV TRUST

  • Violetta Fialko – Ciccolini Prizewinner Recital

    Violetta Fialko – Ciccolini Prizewinner Recital

    Violetta Fialko is an exceptionally talented Ukrainian pianist, who has been signed by Divine Art for her commercial recording debut, as winner of the 2021 Ciccolini Prize for Pianists, a new international competition which had to be held ‘virtually’ due to the Covid pandemic. At the time of writing this, Violetta is living in a part of Ukraine which has so far not been desecrated, having been evacuated from her home town. The audio masters arrived from the studio in Kyiv only days before the Russian attack, for which we are thankful, and we do not yet know if the studio still exists. Leaving the war aside, we have a brilliantly talented pianist who has chosen a varied and highly virtuosic program of Russian Romantic classics (though Prokofiev, to give him his due, was born in Ukraine).

    Violetta was born in 1997 into a family of musicians. She began to attend music school at the age of 5, and at 9 entered the Lysenko Specialized Music School in Kyiv, graduating with top honors in 2016 and entering the Kyiv Conservatory. She won many prizes, culminating in the 2021 Ciccolini Prize which has led to this album being made. She worked (until the current war began) as a teacher of piano performance and music theory, and is also a volunteer and program host on the Evangelical Radio station ‘Emmanuel’.

    We commend this album as the debut of a fantastic pianist and also in support of her home country and peace and freedom everywhere.

  • Visions and Ventures

    Visions and Ventures

    Works from three different musical eras seemingly unconnected – but in the mind of Pianist Stephen Beville very linked – hence the album title – as inspired by Visions and Ventures: Bach always a visionary musically and guided by his religious faith; Beethoven venturing into Romanticism with revolutionary ideas and optimism for a better world; Prokofiev caught up in the unrest in pre-revolutionary Russia, sketching pieces to escape the political turmoil – at least in his imagination. The Visions Fugitives come from a composer in his mid-twenties, just graduated and full of musical confidence, and are typically Prokofievian while some contain radical modernist elements. The Beethoven Sonata is likewise the work of a young 26-year old. It is full of playful invention and optimism and is perhaps one his most appealing works.

    Stephen Beville was acclaimed in 2010 as ‘one of the most talented young musicians to emerge from the UK’. (Frankfurter Neue Press). His interpretations have been compared to Arrau, Rubinstein and Ax. Rock-solid technique and virtuosity while avoiding showmanship have informed his playing from student days at the Junior Royal Academy in London from age 11, tutoring from the great Peter Katin, and postgraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in England and the Hochschule für Music in Karlsruhe. He has performed in many international festivals.

    As well as a firm grounding in classical and 20th century repertoire, Stephen Beville is also a busy composer, his works having been performed by several leading new-music ensembles.

    Stephen’s debut CD ‘Stephen Beville in Karlsruhe’ was given warm reception on its release:
    “Beville is a thoughtful artist, whose accounts of each of the established masterpieces here are well worth hearing.” – Robert Matthew-Walker (Musical Opinion)
    “An intelligent, controlled and searching pair of hands quite capable of imparting power as well as finesse.” – Gary Lemco (Audiophile Audition)

  • Russian Piano Music vol. 14 – Prokofiev

    Russian Piano Music vol. 14 – Prokofiev

    This is the second album in the Russian Piano series devoted to Prokofiev and includes his first and sixth Sonatas and other works demonstrating his wide ranging soundworld. His eclecticism has enabled him as a very ‘serious’ composer of post-Romantic, neo-tonal works – often modernistic and at times aggressive – to be appreciated by a wider general audience than many of his contemporaries.

    Stefania Argentieri is a young Italian pianist of consummate skill, necessary to give full expression to the music of Prokofiev. She has won many awards and has performed at prestigious events in Europe and the USA. She teaches at the Giordano Conservatory in Foggia and is also working as a music editor. Stefania has made recordings with her chamber ensemble and this is her first solo album, no doubt one of many for someone who has the brightest of futures.

  • Russian Piano Music, Vol. 7 – Prokofiev

    Russian Piano Music, Vol. 7 – Prokofiev

    This album is taken from live performances in England between 2000 and 2005 by Russian pianist Sergei Dukachev and includes the Second and Seventh Sonatas, Visions Fugitives, and extracts from the composer’s piano transcription of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Dukachev is gaining an enthusiastic following in the UK as well as in his native Russia, and the brilliance of these concert performances demonstrates why.

  • Violin Songs

    Violin Songs

    From one of the UK’s most celebrated and accomplished violinists comes a recording of personal favourites in a recital of romantic and lyrical music par excellence. Madeleine Mitchell is enjoying a highly successful career in both recording and live recitals, and her first CD for Divine Art is a joyful celebration of her chosen instrument. With highly accomplished pianist Andrew Ball, and joined in Strauss’s “Morgen” by soprano Elizabeth Watts, winner of the 2007 Recital Prize at the Cardiff “Singer of the World” competition. Included is the first ever recording of the newly-discovered Morceau Caracteristique by Frank Bridge.

  • Piano Music for Children

    Piano Music for Children

    Written to be played by children perhaps, but not all these pieces are as simple as the title may suggest! Miniature modern masterpieces by some of the 20th century’s greatest composers.

    Raymond Clarke is an acknowledged master of the 20th century repertoire and his previous recordings have received immense praise. He has been described as “a staggering pianist of exceptional gifts”.