Philip Martin plays Gottschalk Vol.1 (1991)

Delightful and quite uplifting salon music by today almost completely forgotten US composer born in New Orleans - Louis Moreau Gottschalk was a big star in his day and he left trail of broken hearts behind him as he toured the States and South America. In fact,his fame as celebrated pianist was such equaled his notorious ways with ladies - he loved women and they loved him back - Gottschalk himself complained that young girls who flocked at his concerts distract him and made him hit the wrong notes. He lived during American Civil War and was very,very successful concert performer but alas,sex actually killed him - scandal of seducing a lady from Oakland Female Seminary led to quickly leaving States and touring South America instead,where he got malaria and died at the age of forty. And than he was forgotten.

Before 1970s hardly any of his music could be heard anywhere,such is the nature of the fame that new generations never hear about stars of yesterday. Particularly in the world of classical music its easy to stuck with works of sanctified few but rare are those curious to explore dusty corners,luckily the pianist Philip Martin (backed by always brave label "Hyperion") decided to record the whole serial of collected piano works by Gottschalk and "Gramophone" complimented these recordings,selecting a pretty piece from CD Vol.8 for their the-best-of-the-month issue in 2005. where I noticed how much I enjoy this music. So I bought vol.1 liking it very,very much.

Liner notes are almost apologizing in their statement that Gottschalk was no more than a crowd pleaser and not really a great composer,but I hear in his music very clear and distinctive original sound that comes as a mixture of European discipline and New Orleans dance rhythms. He might learn piano from works of great European composers but from his balcony in New Orleans he could also hear slave dances on Place Congo and this combination of various influences makes his music actually a exotic original long before ragtime and than Jazz came in fashion. Listen carefully and you hear everything from waltz to mazurka and spanish sounds. And here is of course a real hit of its time,"Le Bananier" known as "Chanson Nègre" which is quite unforgettable in its simplicity and charm,true gem.