Divine Art Records

Period: 20th Century

  • Russian Piano Music vol. 13 – Sergei Rachmaninov

    Russian Piano Music vol. 13 – Sergei Rachmaninov

    The major work in this second album of Rachmaninov’s works in the Russian Piano series is the First Sonata, a pinnacle of high late Romanticism. Less well known are the Moments Musicaux but they too are masterful pieces.

    Alfonso Soldano is professor of piano performance at the Giordano Conservatory in Foggia, Italy, following similar posts at Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome and in Trani. He was a student of Ciccolini and is renowned for his virtuosity. He was awarded the International Gold Medal for ‘Best Italian Artist’ in 2013 and has won many other competitions, and is also a busy writer and transcriber. His previous recordings for Divine Art, of the music of Bortkiewicz and Castelnuovo-Tedesco, received glowing reviews. His Rachmaninov (Rachmaninoff for the American readers!) is equally magical.

  • Galina Ustvolskaya – Complete works for Violin and Piano

    Galina Ustvolskaya – Complete works for Violin and Piano

    Unfairly named ‘The Lady with the Hammer’ for her uncompromising use of massive thunderous chords and ostinato rhythms, Ustvolskaya was a pupil of Shostakovich but forged her own unique way into many genres. Recently, artists have concentrated, as here, on bringing out the richness of the works and their innate lyricism. This album includes all of the composer’s music for violin and piano in two major works – the Sonata and the Duet.

    Russian violinist Evgeny Sorkin was a child prodigy and performed for Isaac Stern at the age of 10 and was compared at 16 to David Oistrakh by no less than Yehudi Menuhin. He moved to Australia and balanced teaching at Sydney Conservatory with a busy recital schedule.

    Natalia Andreeva is a Russian pianist who is currently Lecturer in Piano at the University of Sydney, Australia. Her 2015 recording of the complete solo piano music of Galina Ustvolskaya was very well received; she is a pianist of consummate skill who can express the power and lyricism which exist side by side in these works

  • Mdina – Music for Horn

    Mdina – Music for Horn

    Following the release of his debut album in May 2007 the virtuoso horn player Etienne Cutajar, who took up his first orchestral seat at 18, has seen his career develop with important orchestral appointments in Scotland and elsewhere before returning to his native country to become principal horn of the Malta Philharmonic. He has also appeared as chamber soloist in many prestigious venues.

    This album is named for the central work, Mdina, by Maltese composer Jesmond Grixti; this is a work for horn solo and accompanied by two more contemporary pieces: Air für Horn by Jörg Widmann and Cynddaredd-Brenddyd by Heinz Holliger. These works require the highest accuracy and technical ability which Cutajar supplies with aplomb.

    Accompanying these new pieces are three mainstream works: Beethoven’s well known Sonata receives a superb performance, as do the Andante by Richard Strauss and Brahms’s Horn Trio in E flat.

    In these works, Cutajar is joined by esteemed pianist and Royal Academy professor John Reid, and in the Brahms Trio by Carmine Lauri, one of the UK’s principal orchestral violinists, who has led the London Symphony, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and Royal Opera House among others, and has been featured violinist in a host of major feature films.

    “Cutajar impresses with his breath control, rock-solid evenness of tone, and amazing pppppppps. One has to admire Cutajar for his facility and technical prowess.” – Robert Markow (Fanfare)

  • Porgy, Preludes & Paris – Gershwin arrangements for piano duo

    Porgy, Preludes & Paris – Gershwin arrangements for piano duo

    Husband and wife team Robert and Linda Ang Stoodley are an adventurous duo with a very wide range of repertoire from the pops to major classical works which they present to appreciative audiences all around the world, spending much time as recitalists on cruise ships. They are also accomplished arrangers, as demonstrated by the brilliant transcriptions on their recordings.

    Following their well received Divine Art debut album ‘France Revisited’ they present superb new arrangements of George Gershwin works from the serious (Porgy & Bess) to tin pan alley songs, often interwined and merged. Purists may frown but such arrangements, sampling and “medleying” were well known to Gershwin himself.

    This album is not only performed with great virtuosity, it is immensely entertaining too. See Piano-a-Deux performing on YouTube

    “The Stoodleys are fine, often exuberant, pianists well tuned to each other’s phrasing and occasional subtleties.” – Michael Ullman (Fanfare)

  • Gershwin and Ravel: Music for Piano Duo

    Gershwin and Ravel: Music for Piano Duo

    With over forty CDs to their credit and a busy concert schedule stretching back more than thirty years, the British piano duo of Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow was firmly established as a leading force. Their recordings are not only brilliant performances but usually innovatively programmed, leading to rave reviews for every album. Sadly Goldstone died in January 2017 but their legacy lives on.

    This album was originally released in 2007 (dda 25057) but withdrawn due to complex issues regarding one track. Now available again (without that track!) this is a superb rendition of music inspired by jazz and popular idioms, including the original piano duo versions (not transcriptions) of several of the pieces. The combination of these two great composers and one of the world’s best-ever duos makes for a stunning recital album.

  • Fragments – music for flute and harp by The Juniper Project

    Fragments – music for flute and harp by The Juniper Project

    We present The Juniper Project in their debut duo recording in the format of a concert recital with a variety of Romantic and modern works from Debussy to Lutosƚawski. The album title is named for the Lutosƚawski but also to represent the inclusion of highlight movements from works by Marson and Rutter.

    Greek flutist Anna Rosa Mari is a vibrant performer who has appeared around the world as a soloist, has been principal flute with the Chamber Orchestra of the Greek National Opera and has appeared with the Halle, BBC Philharmonic and many other leading orchestras.

    Eira Lynn Jones is one of the UK’s leading harpists with a wide range of activities including concertising, recording and teaching. A regular freelancer with most top UK orchestras, previously a member of the Manhattan Contemporary Music Ensemble, New York, she is currently also head of Harp at the Royal Northern College of Music.

  • Rawsthorne and Other Rarities

    Rawsthorne and Other Rarities

    In one sense this is a sequel to the recent release ‘A Garland for John McCabe’ (DDA 25166) – originally intended as a 2nd disc in that set, but it grew to be a full album in its own right, and is also dedicated to McCabe with first recordings of works by McCabe’s fellow composers. Just as importantly it is a feast of fine music by British and American composers, all (except one very short track) recorded for the first time, including principally music by Alan Rawsthorne – the early and jolly String Quartet in B minor, the Chamber Cantata, and the piano version of the remarkable ‘Practical Cats’.

    Clare Wilkinson is receiving rave reviews for her work and is a mezzo with beautiful tone; veteran baritone Mark Rowlinson is the fine reciter of ‘Cats’. John Turner, one of the leading recorder players of today and former member of many world-renowned early-music ensembles, and pianist Peter Lawson, another highly regarded performer who has played with most top British orchestras and has a long and distinguished recording and teaching career, are joined by keyboard maestro Harvey Davies and the very fine Solem Quartet.

  • Sappho, Shropshire and Super-Tramp – English Art Song

    Sappho, Shropshire and Super-Tramp – English Art Song

    The title ‘Sappho, Shropshire and Super-Tramp’ reflects three major threads (though not all) in this exceptional album of new English art-song made with the English Poetry and Song Society.

    Shropshire is represented by several settings from Housman’s ‘A Shropshire Lad’ which has been among the most popular sets of poems for composers since its publication in 1896. From the ancient world, Sappho’s writings were set by Ivor Gurney, recently discovered, edited and published by Richard Carder.

    Super-Tramp is the exceptional hobo-turned-gentleman poet W.H. Davies.

    Altogether 12 composers and 52 songs, some in cycles and some stand-alone items, make this a feast of new and fascinating work for the song lover. Performed by top soloists Sarah Leonard and Johnny Herford, accompanied by Nigel Foster, who has been described as ‘today’s Gerald Moore’.

  • Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Piano Music

    Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Piano Music

    Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco is best known for two things – his evocative guitar music, and his work during his long association with the movie industry in Hollywood, where he produced some amazing scores though never quite receiving the fame of his compatriot Nino Rota. His extensive body of piano music has been largely neglected despite the fact that it is exceptional, impressionistic, and in the best post-Romantic tradition of ‘lighter’ music – though only relatively ‘light’ in that it is written in traditional harmony. Never shallow, but highly suggestive of moods, emotions, places and colors. Many of the works in this album are receiving their first recording.

    Alfonso Soldano is a brilliant Italian pianist, the last and highly- regarded pupil of Aldo Ciccolini whose debut recording (piano music of Sergei Bortkiewicz) attracted worldwide acclaim. He is naturally attuned to the Romantic which makes him an ideal interpreter of this music. He has just been appointed Artistic Director of the Aldo Ciccolini Academy in Trani, Italy.

  • The Piano At The Ballet: Vol. 2

    The Piano At The Ballet: Vol. 2

    Anthony Goldstone died on January 2, 2017 after a year-long battle with illness. This was his last recording, and is issued now also as a tribute and memorial to one of the greatest pianists of our age who never achieved the international recognition he deserved. His immense musical knowledge, assiduous research, and skilful artistry in both performance and also transcription brought him great acclaim in musicological circles.

    Following the critical praise and commercial success of ‘Piano at the Ballet’ this sequel focuses on transcriptions of ballet music with French connections – through the composer or subject matter and includes both well known works and some refreshingly unfamiliar pieces, including program works by Debussy and Françaix later choreographed.

  • Enigmas

    Enigmas

    A varied range of masterful works from English 20th century composers – some familiar and all major works of importance. Elgar composed his Enigma Variations at the piano; it was always suitable for a solo version and Elgar himself wrote this. Bowen’s Flute Sonata is well known – a Romantic staple — as is Leighton’s Elegy, which deserves to be better known. The piano solo work Folio I is lively and full of fun, while the two Sonnets of Rubbra are exquisitely gorgeous and absolutely essential listening.

    Fine performances by pianist Elspeth Wyllie who is an accomplished soloist and chamber musician/accompanist, working throughout the UK and other countries. The young set of musicians here show exceptional talent and musicianship in the recorded works which are very varied yet make up a coherent concert album.

  • Natalia Andreeva plays Preludes & Fugues

    Natalia Andreeva plays Preludes & Fugues

    After the highly praised recording of music by Ustvolskaya (DDA 25130), Natalia Andreeva presents a brief survey of the Prelude and Fugue – one of the most prevalent of keyboard forms over the centuries. From Bach to Shostakovich, this concert-format album is a useful introduction to the genre, and also a fine interpretation for the experts to enjoy. Two of Rachmaninoff’s Etude-tableaux are included as ‘bonus encores’.

    Companion album: ‘Piano Sonatas’ from Beethoven, Scriabin and Prokofiev (DDA 25140). Plus: Ustvolskaya’s Violin and Piano music on DDA 25182

    Natalia Andreeva is a Russian pianist who is currently Lecturer in Piano at the University of Sydney, Australia. Her 2015 recording of the music of Galina Ustvolskaya was very well received, and like that album, this new recording of better-known classical and Romantic works is the result of many years of study, developing her own mental picture of these masterpieces and of what the composers were trying to communicate.

    There are various links between the works – in fact Liszt, Franck and Shostakovich were all influenced by Bach generally, as well as composing in the Prelude and Fugue form that he made a staple of the keyboard repertoire.