Isabelle O’connell - Cocteau (2026) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Rag-Time Parade (Arr. for Piano by Hans Ourdine)
02. Pas trop vite
03. Hommage à Debussy
04. Très vite
05. Ragtime, K030 (Version for Piano)
06. Gnossiennes: No. 1, Lent
07. Gnossiennes: No. 2, Avec étonnement
08. Gnossiennes: No. 3, Lent
09. Les cinq doigts, K037: I. Andantino
10. Les cinq doigts, K037: II. Allegro
11. Les cinq doigts, K037: III. Allegretto
12. Les cinq doigts, K037: IV. Larghetto
13. Les cinq doigts, K037: V. Moderato
14. Les cinq doigts, K037: VI. Lento
15. Les cinq doigts, K037: VII. Vivo
16. Les cinq doigts, K037: VIII. Pesante
17. Le boeuf sur le toit, Op. 58: Le Tango des Fratellini (Arr. for Piano by Hubert Mouton)
18. 3 Petites pièces montées: I. Rêverie de l’enfance de Pantagruel (Version for Piano)
19. L’Album des Six: I. Prélude
20. L’Album des Six: II. Romance sans paroles, Op. 21
21. L’Album des Six: III. Sarabande, H. 26
22. L’Album des Six: IV. Mazurka
23. L’Album des Six: V. Valse, FP 17
24. L’Album des Six: VI. Pastorale
25. Cocteau: I. Antigone
26. Cocteau: II. Portrait I
27. Cocteau: III. Blood of a poet
28. Cocteau: IV. Orpheus
29. Cocteau: V. Portrait II
30. Cocteau: VI. Oedipus
31. 3 Gymnopédies: No. 1, Lent et douloureux
32. 3 Gymnopédies: No. 2, Lent et triste
33. 3 Gymnopédies: No. 3, Lent et grave

Divine Art Records presents Cocteau from pianist Isabelle O’Connell exploring the musical connections and artistic spirit of the multi-talented and influential French artist, filmmaker, novelist, and poet Jean Cocteau (1889–1963). Throughout his life, Cocteau worked with the legendary Ballets Russes, was involved with major art movements like Cubism and Surrealism, and was one of the most important avant-garde directors in cinema.

Isabelle O’Connell’s album is anchored by Irish composer Rhona Clarke’s brand-new work also entitled 'Cocteau'. Written especially for O’Connell, and heard on the album after the listener moves through Cocteau’s contemporaries and collaborators in Paris a century ago: Erik Satie, Igor Stravinsky, and members of ‘Le Groupe des Six’ for whom Cocteau was a figurehead (Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, Germaine Tailleferre).

The initial spark for this revealing new album came from online conversations between Isabelle O’Connell and Rhona Clarke during the COVID pandemic. Rhona had developed a fascination with the work of “this complete artist” and ‘Cocteau’ is a set of six short pieces inspired by his drawings, paying tribute to his “overall aesthetic and personality, his quirkiness, modernism, sense of freedom, his mix of the sublime and the ridiculous”.

The works by Satie include three of his Gnossiennes and Trois Gymnopédies, epitomising the qualities that Cocteau so admired – clarity, refinement, with minimal and spare textures. We also hear the Ragtime Parade from the surrealist ballet 'Parade' conceived by Cocteau for The Ballets Russes, and 'Rêverie de l’enfance de Pantagruel' from his orchestrated work 'Trois petites pièces montées', originally composed for a concert Cocteau organised.

The album also includes Stravinsky’s Ragtime and Les Cinq Doigts, Darius Milhaud’s Le Boeuf sur le Toit from Cocteau’s ballet, and three works by Germaine Tailleferre, the only female composer in ‘Le Groupe des Six’. Though the composers of the group had differing styles, their music followed Cocteau’s artistic principles, sometimes with elements of American jazz and café music, often with a hint of humour or parody. L’Album des Six was the only work on which all six collaborated.

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