- Karajan
- ILAMS
- Douglas Cummings
- Niels W Gade
- Johann David Hermann
- Salvatore Cardillo
- McCabe: String Trio
- Antoine Tamestit
Divine Art Recordings
As Stephen Sutton retires, his British record label is acquired by a new company, First Inversion
First Inversion, a newly established American-based holding company, announces the acquisition of the United Kingdom's enterprising recording and publishing group, Divine Art Ltd. Known as the Divine Art Recordings Group, Divine Art consists of the recording labels Divine Art, Métier, Athene, Diversions, Historic Sound, Heritage Media, Pilgrim's Star and Ekkozone, and the music publishing imprint Divine Art Edition.
Integration into the First Inversion family will enable the continuation of the Divine Art Recording Group's thirty-two-year history of high-quality and fascinating recordings and music, as founder Stephen Sutton embarks on a well-earned retirement.
On 1 January 2025, First Inversion CEO David Weuste will take on the additional role of CEO of Divine Art. Through his company Rosebrook Media, Weuste has worked alongside Sutton since 2014. Divine Art's production partnership with Mill Media Co will also continue under First Inversion ownership. Weuste comments:
Stephen Sutton was first introduced to me in 2014 as 'one of the nicest people in the music industry'. While that is certainly true, what sets Stephen and the Divine Art Recordings Group apart is his commitment to empowering the artists and composers on his labels. This passion for artists and composers is evident throughout the catalogue and company. It also shines through in the rewarding and eclectic nature of the music. 'Fascinating', 'challenging', and 'quality' are the most-used words in critical reviews of Stephen's recordings. First Inversion considers those words to be foundational elements of the catalogue, which deserves to be the first choice for anyone interested in exploring the true depth that classical music has to offer.
Divine Art's planned 2025 releases include the Kreutzer Quartet's new recording of music by Robert Saxton, available in the spring, Canadian cellist Heather Tuach and Japanese pianist Yoko Misumi's new album of works by women composers and the first recording of 24 Preludes for Piano by Nicholas Scott-Burt (born Bristol, UK, 1962), played by UK-based pianist Da-Hee Kim. The double album is expected to appear in the Autumn.
From left to right: Robert Saxton (© Katie-Vandyck), Yoko Misumi and Heather Tuach (© Tuach/Misumi) and Nicholas Scott-Burt (© Divine Art)
Stephen Sutton says:
The decision to hand over the Divine Art business was made with very divided emotions, as I still have as much ambition and enthusiasm as I did in my thirties, and can see a successful future ahead, thanks to the wonderful talent and inspired work of our composers and performing artists. I started the venture to make a cassette - remember them? - as a fund-raiser for our local church organ restoration - the result being the album later released on CD as 'Organ in the Hills' - and it remained an expensive hobby alongside my day job until I made it my full time occupation in 2005 from when the growth of the catalogue has been far more than I ever expected. However, I feel that the time is right to take a belated retirement and entrust the company to David, who has managed our international marketing for many years and who I believe will drive our labels onwards and upwards with a better rapport with the ever changing digital distribution and social media world. I am hopeful that I can contribute in the future in some form or other.
Founded in 2024, First Inversion is a holding company based in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. First Inversion's companies include Rosebrook Classical and Rosebrook Media, founded by CEO David Weuste in 2009, which offer marketing services for performing arts organizations across the US and a suite of recording label and artist services to clients and companies around the world. In 2025, it welcomes the addition of eight recording labels and a music publishing imprint from the United Kingdom through the acquisition of Divine Art Ltd.
In 1992, Stephen Sutton founded the Divine Art label in Northumberland. His commitment to quality and for introducing new music and fascinating rarities saw Divine Art grow into a globally recognized award-winning label both on the flagship imprint and its midprice sister, Diversions. Between 2003 and 2009, Divine Art acquired the highly-regarded early music label, Athene, launched the new Historic Sound series specializing in sound restoration, acquired Métier Records, one of the most important labels for contemporary music, and added the Dunelm Records and Pilgrim's Star catalogues. Divine Art also sub-distributes the RP Music and DanSing labels. In 2023, it brought the Danish label Ekkozone, founded by Métier artist Mathias Reumert, into the catalogue, and launched the Divine Art Edition music publishing initiative. The over thirty years of growth have seen the group's catalogue grow to over seven-hundred-and-fifty titles with global digital distribution through Naxos of America and physical distribution across the world through the Naxos Global Distribution network.
Stephen Sutton joined us here at Classical Music Daily for our April 2022 video newsletter, 'New Recordings', to speak about his record label, and this can be watched here.
Stephen Sutton in 2022
Divine Art albums have been received very favourably at Classical Music Daily, with reviewers commenting 'the recording ... is very vivid and displays the whole ensemble very well indeed' (Paul Sarcich), '... the performers are outstanding ...' (Geoff Pearce) and '... this is one of the most richly stimulating, impressive and sheerly enjoyable CDs of music, new or old, that I have heard in quite some time' (Robert McCarney).
Further information: divineartrecords.com
Posted 22 November 2024 by Keith Bramich
