Customer Reviews

Gottschalk: Piano Music for 2 and 4 hands

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really wanted to give this CD set 2.5 stars. I like the music. The artists are adequate if not stellar. But the acoustics and recording quality are awful. It sounds like it was recorded in a high school gym using a cassette recorder / player.

Sorry I can't be more positive, but I was disappointed.

After hearing a Gottschalk piece on the radio, I had to get this album. The music is so upbeat and fun I can't help but smile. It is executed with precision and great energy by the artist/s and has all the joy you could want. These pieces are not meant to be deeply sophisticated or complex (although playing them is obviously a challenge), but instead cheerful, fast and energetic. It's perfect classical music for a workout or endless mundane chores as it keeps you moving in time with the happy beats. There are some more serious works, but it's the delightful ones that I found most appealing. If you could translate laughter into piano music, this is what it would sound like :)

It sounds as though the recording studio is huge as there is more 'air' than I like in my recordings, but still I thoroughly enjoy the music. The piece on the radio that turned me on to Gottschalk was identified as 'Cake Walk', but I was unable to find it and finally figured out that the piece 'Pasquinade Caprice' was the same one. I simply cannot listen to it without smiling. The four-hand pieces are astonishing--in perfect sync.

There are dozens of pieces on these two disks so you will surely find many that suit you if you're a piano music fan.

Gottschalk is a 19th century composer, Creole, born in New Orleans with Jewish ancestry in his father's family. He savored the musical atmosphere in New Orleans with its black slaves' seasoning, but traveled also in Europe. His music was written primarily for his solo performance, but some he adapted for two pianos, as is the case in this album. Nothing sounds anything like Gottschalk; it is spell binding and regularly stands up the hair on my arms. (And puckers the rest of my parts, too). I first heard it on old CD's , perhaps 40 years ago, but it's burned into my brain and I was overjoyed to discover this CD album. I heard "The Banjo" played years as an encore in a Dayton, OH concert. It left the audience standing and screaming, so the pianist played it twice more. Of course, no one knew what it was, except for the few of us sitting up near our rear balcony seats. Unless you object to music that sticks and plays in your brain for a lifetime, you should not deprive yourself of an unforgettable musical experience.