Divine Art announces fifth album for Swedish impressionist composer Jonathan Östlund: ‘Elysían’

Following four previous and highly praised albums for Jonathan Östlund, Divine Art is now preparing his fifth, to be titled ‘Elysían’. The double album, like the previous ones, contains a wealth of impressionist works ranging from pieces for chamber orchestra, to instrumental and vocal compositions, performed by a large group of hand-picked performers from around Europe. Jonathan Östlund’s primary inspiration is nature which is brought out fully in beautiful Impressionist works; acclaimed for his imaginative and accessible music, he has been championed by some of Europe’s best musicians. Among the plaudits for his previous albums, he was described as ‘the 21^st Century’s Debussy’ (Jan Hocek, His Voice); “this is music of filigree beauty” (Colin Clarke, Fanfare). The new album will be no less magical and will be scheduled for release in the summer of 2023.

Artists include: Patrik Jablonski (piano), Edward Cohen (piano), Serene Yu (piano), Alexander Zagorinsky (cello), Evgeny Brakhman (piano), Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin), Myriam Hidber-Dickinson (flute), Natalie Anston-Vermorel (soprano), Inga Feter (piano), Martina Bortolotti von Haderburg (soprano), Luca Schinai (piano), Laura Kimmel (mezzo-soprano), Nikita Stepanenko (piano), Nizhny Novgorod Soloists, Maria Zagorinskaya (soprano), and more to be confirmed.

Album Details

Title: Elysían
Label: Divine Art
Catalogue number: DDA 21242
Composer: Jonathan Östlund

Works

The album has been recorded in various locations around Europe, and is being mastered by Paul Baily (ReSound UK).

Jonathan Östlund received his BA and MA in Composition at LTU, in Sweden, and has so far completed more than 150 works, including several orchestral works, and two concertos for violin. His achievements include CD-releases, publications and performances with the London Schubert Players in the U.K., France and Romania throughout 2010 and 2011, as part of the ‘Invitation to Composers’ project. In 2012 he won the Public Choice Award for his Cello Sonata, premiered by A. Zagorinsky and E. Steen-Nokleberg, and was awarded 1st Prize in the Leicester Symphony Orchestra’s Composers’ Composition for his ‘Celebration Fanfare’, which was premiered during the Orchestra’s 90th Season Gala. Various premieres followed in 2013, in the U.K. and France.

The year 2014 brought Jonathan’s music to the Cadogan Hall stage with ‘Lumières’, a programme presenting ten of his chamber works, in various constellations, performed by E. Pameijer, B. Waldmann and the Cellini Quartet. That same year, his Cello Sonata received a Russian premiere, and he was a Winner in the 2015 IBLA Grand Prize, with one of his orchestral works [the extended version of which became ‘Nocturnia’, and is featured on his third album, ‘Mistral’].

His first double CD, ‘Lunaris’, was released in 2016 to critical acclaim, a year in which further premieres took place in the U.K. and in Switzerland. In 2017 Östlund’s Piano Concertino was premiered in Athens, Greece, and Y. Revich together with M. Esnult premiered a violin and piano piece in Vienna, Austria.
His second double CD, ‘Voyages’, was released in 2019, featuring (among others) Walter Gatti, Evgeny Brakhman, Sasha Grynyuk, and Alicja Smietana.

His third album release, ‘Mistral’, released in 2020, includes the recording of his Concerto No. 1 for Violin & Symphony Orchestra among other mesmerising works in varied instrumentation, and was followed by the release of his fourth album, ‘Imago’, a tour-de-force double album, in February 2022.