Divine Art Records

Label: Divine Art

  • Rachmaninov: Suites for Two Pianos & Music for Piano Trio

    Rachmaninov: Suites for Two Pianos & Music for Piano Trio

    A new album of chamber works by Sergei Rachmaninov. This outstanding recording was made at two venues in Poland: the Łódź Academy of Music, and the Czestochowa Philharmony. The principal performer is pianist Barbara Karaśkiewicz who has made several highly praised recordings for Divine Art (and before that the esteemed Polish label Acte Preable). She performs two piano duos with her musical partner Michał Rot. The chamber works are played by the Huberman Piano Trio whose Divine Art recording of 20th Century Chamber music was also acclaimed by critics.

    Both the performances and the perfectly engineered recording offer a sumptuous program of Rachmaninov that will delight listeners.

    The Huberman Trio was formed at the initiative of Barbara Karaśkiewicz, named in honour of the great Polish artist Bronislav Huberman, famed for his performances and transcriptions of works by Chopin and others.

  • J S Bach: Tranquillity

    J S Bach: Tranquillity

    Like all great composers, Bach wrote lively dynamic pieces for keyboard as well as in his cantatas etc. But he also produced many wonderful gentle and peaceful works and many of these are collected by pianist Jonathan Phillips in his new album ‘Tranquillity’. This recording contains music for anyone hoping to gain an overriding sense of stillness, calm, contemplation and reverence. Bach’s music has radiance, luminosity, divinity, serenity, and timeless beauty.

    Jonathan Phillips (“a musician of real quality and finesse” – The Times) has broadcast for the BBC, Russian and Italian and Swedish TV and radio, and has given recitals all over the UK, Europe and former Soviet Union.

  • Souvenirs d’oiseaux

    Souvenirs d’oiseaux

    English pianist Roderick Chadwick has recorded the second volume in a series which presents Books 2 through 5 of Messiaen’s “Catalogue d’oiseaux” coupled with works which are linked either in style or subject matter. This follows the well-received issue in October 2020 of the first volume, entitled ‘La Mer Bleue’ which included Book 1 of the Catalogue.

    This double album is a continuation of Chadwick’s journey through Messiaen’s “Catalogue d’oiseaux”, programming it alongside an array of solo piano works that share its themes, atmospheres and inspirations. The latest issue features Books 2 through 5, including the cycle’s great centrepiece ‘La rousserolle effarvatte’ (The Reed Warbler), which evokes the sights and sounds of the Sologne region across a full day’s span.

    Roderick Chadwick, as both soloist and collaborator, has performed some of the most challenging works for piano; his recent Stockhausen disc was highly praised. He is a particular expert on Messiaen and in 2018 co-authored and published a book on the Catalogue d’oiseaux. He lives in South London and is Reader in Music at the Royal Academy of Music.

  • Michael Blake: Afrikosmos

    Michael Blake: Afrikosmos

    Inspired by Bartók’s’Mikrokosmos’ and by the indigenous music from various parts of Africa, South African composer Michael Blake created this magnum opus – like Bartók’s work, in varying degrees of difficulty for young players and experts alike. The recording was made in June 2021 at the Menuhin Hall, Cobham, Surrey by pianist Antony Gray, whose recent Divine Art albums of piano works by Saint-Saëns have met with great success and glowing reviews.

    Michael Blake is a South African-born composer and pianist based in London from 1977 and later returned to the “New South Africa”. He has been responsible for post-apartheid New Music initiatives such as joining the ISCM and setting up a new music festival and composers meeting. His musical language draws from African music, experimental film, and African weaving techniques. His works have been widely played around the world and appear on 15 CDs. He currently splits his time living in rural France and Cape Town where he is an honorary professor of experimental composition at Stellenbosch University.

    Australian pianist Antony Gray was educated in Victoria, Australia, where he graduated from the Victorian College of Arts and won several awards and prizes. He received a scholarship from the Astra foundation to continue his studies in London with Joyce Rathbone and Geoffrey Parsons. Based in London now, he is regarded as one of the most interesting and communicative performers of his generation, known for his solo and chamber music performances around the world, regular recordings for CD and radio, and his championing of contemporary and neglected composers such as George Enescu, Dussek, Martinů, Malcolm Williamson and John Carmichael. He has recorded 14 discs of solo piano music for ABC Classics, and featured on other recording projects for KNS Classical and other labels.

  • Fritze: Spanish Meditations and Dances

    Fritze: Spanish Meditations and Dances

    “Spanish Meditations and Dances” is a set of 17 pieces for violin and piano composed and arranged by American composer Gregory Fritze, specially for violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved. The set includes both expressive meditations and exciting technical dances, inspired by the towns and regions of Spain. Gregory Fritze is a prize-winning composer and Fulbright Scholar, with a long history of successful performances and composition awards.

    The performance of “Spanish Meditations and Dances” features Peter Sheppard Skærved on violin and Roderick Chadwick on piano. Both musicians are critically acclaimed and have extensive concert and recording careers. The compositions showcase the violinist in both expressive and exciting technical playing and titles of the movements are from the many towns and regions of Spain that have been a great inspiration in the composer’s music over the years.

    Each movement is a stand-out piece, showcasing the exceptional talent of both the composer, Gregory Fritze, and the performers, Peter Sheppard Skærved and Roderick Chadwick. The emotive and technically masterful violin playing paired with the dynamic piano accompaniment make for a truly captivating listening experience. The album is destined to be an airplay classic.

  • Shades of Night: a piano recital by Andrew Brownell

    Shades of Night: a piano recital by Andrew Brownell

    Step back to a time when the night was an antithesis to the clarity of illumined day. In the especially fertile imaginations of the 19th-century Romantic composers, this was a time when the world gave itself over to mystery and magic.

    These works explore the “otherness” of night and its potential for strangeness. The album also focuses on the theme of passion, mostly from the Romantic period.

    In the especially fertile imaginations of the 19th-century Romantic composers, this was a time when, shielded from the gaze of the Almighty, the world gave itself over to mystery and magic: lovers met for forbidden trysts, revelers drank and cavorted through the small hours, and spirits walked the earth.

    In this album, Brownell hopes to transport you out of our sterile, modern understanding of night and into the stranger, more interesting reality it must have been for most of human history. Described by Musical Opinion as “potentially one of the most significant pianists of his generation”, since winning 1st Prize at the 2005 J.N. Hummel Competition (Bratislava), he has achieved widespread recognition as “one of the foremost Hummel interpreters of our time” (Hudobný Život).

    Brownell’s performances have been seen and heard on BBC radio and television, Classic FM, NPR, CBC, ORF, and RBB KulturRadio. He has been soloist with orchestras such as the Hallé, Royal Liverpool
    Philharmonic, and Calgary Philharmonic.

  • Robin Stevens: Chasing Shadows

    Robin Stevens: Chasing Shadows

    Robin Stevens manages to blend the often dominating clarinet with subtle warmth and colour with the strings, giving the Clarinet Quintet a distinctive character of its own.

    An important strand in Stevens’ compositional output since 2007 has been writing music for relatively neglected instruments such as the tuba, the piccolo and the bassoon, and this strand was strengthened in the autumn of 2015 when he wrote a collection of six pieces for double bass and piano, to which Chasing Shadows and Obsession belong.

    The Fantasy Trio (2009) is a relatively rare instance of a substantial chamber work combining the classical guitar with mainstream orchestral instruments. The Romantic Fantasy for flute (doubling piccolo), B flat clarinet, string quartet and harp (2010), is written for the same forces as Ravel’s ground-breaking Introduction and Allegro. The Romantic Fantasy is an ambitious work in one movement, an unbroken span of twenty three minutes’ music.

  • Passiontide – A Lenten Cantata

    Passiontide – A Lenten Cantata

    Simon Mold’s new setting is a triumph drawing deeply on the traditions of baroque Passion settings as well as such works as Stainer’s ‘The Crucifixion’ and Maunder’s ‘Olivet to Calvary’. This work is a masterpiece which, if there is any justice in the world, will be widely sung, to be appreciated by choirs, audiences and congregations.

    A strikingly accessible work that explores a range of emotions with a sure feel for word-setting and an irrepressible tunefulness, while nonetheless capable of many passages of gravitas, poignancy and lingering beauty.

    Highlights include dramatic moments in the Garden of Gethsemane and before Pilate, a searching setting of the Reproaches for choir and soloist, the heart-rending farewell duet for Mary and Jesus and a final scene that taps into the feelings of believer and non-believer alike.

  • Companions: Contemporary Organ Music

    Companions: Contemporary Organ Music

    A new album of ten contemporary organ works from nine composers representing six countries.

    Carson Cooman presents a program of contemporary music for organ recorded on the remarkable post-romantic Thomas Gaida organ of the Pauluskirche in Ulm, Germany. The music varies widely in character and scope, from smaller character pieces and meditations to several dramatic, large-scale works. The final piece is the grand 15th organ symphony of English composer Bernard Heyes. Some like David Lasky’s ‘Peace Prayer No. 1’ have a special resonance in today’s world.

  • Light of the World: a new Carol for Christmas

    Light of the World: a new Carol for Christmas

    A special digital single featuring a new carol by established British composer and conductor Robin White.

    Light of the World is unashamedly aimed at bringing joy and thoughts of peace, reconciliation and understanding in our highly troubled world. Written In a sparkling Viennese waltz time, this carol should be in everyone’s seasonal playlist. With its simple, yet effective melody, it is also perfect for church or school choirs.

    Robin White is an important figure in the world of contemporary light music, having made many recordings since his debut in 1992. He appeared with his choir in an episode of the BBC TV series EastEnders and his work has been broadcast by BBC orchestras many times.

  • 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

  • The Whistling Book

    The Whistling Book

    This album derives from a 1998 release from Forsyth Brothers (Manchester) featuring works published in their Recorder Catalogue. It was then called ‘John and Peter’s Whistling Book’. For this new version, remastered in 2022, several extra tracks have been added. The album features the recorder at its most scintillatingly bright – most of the music here, though very recent, is melodic, tuneful, often in dance form, and witty – for example Alan Bullard’s suite inspired by favorite foods from around the world. Two small forays into modernism are provided by superb pieces by Richard Whalley and Kevin Malone.

    John Turner is one of the world’s most respected and skilful recorderists, with a long history of recordings, publications and premieres, including regular appearances with the Academy of Ancient Music, the Early Music Consort with David Munrow, English Chamber Orchestra and Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
    Peter Lawson has also enjoyed a long and illustrious career; he taught at Chetham’s School of Music for almost 40 years and has a large and impressive discography to his name.