Isabelle O’connell – Cocteau

In March 2026, 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 Cocteau is anchored by Irish composer Rhona Clarke’s brand-new work ‘Cocteau’ written especially for O’Connell, and heard 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 conversations be