GOTTSCHALK A Night in the Tropics
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Genre:
Instrumental
Label: Naxos
Magazine Review Date: 10/2015
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 65
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 8 559693
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(Le) Banjo |
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer Steven Mayer, Piano |
Berceuse |
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer Steven Mayer, Piano |
Fantôme de bonheur |
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer Steven Mayer, Piano |
Grande fantaisie triumphal sur l'hymne national br |
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer Steven Mayer, Piano |
(The) Last hope |
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer Steven Mayer, Piano |
(La) Nuit des Tropiques, Movement: Andante |
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer Steven Mayer, Piano |
Pasquinade |
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer Steven Mayer, Piano |
Reflets du passé |
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer Steven Mayer, Piano |
(Le) songe d'une nuit d'été |
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Composer Steven Mayer, Piano |
Author: Jeremy Nicholas
Tempi and track timings are not always reliable criteria for the purposes of comparison but here they reveal a great deal. Both Licad and Mayer open with Le banjo (an astonishing novelty for 1854): Licad is all sparkling high spirits (3'12"); Mayer (3'56") is dispiritingly dull while disregarding most of the composer’s dynamic markings. The Last Hope, one of Gottschalk’s most popular works in his lifetime, clocks in at an enervating 8'14" under Mayer; Philip Martin, on Vol 3 of the complete solo works (Hyperion, 6/97), shows how even the most saccharine of period pieces can still enchant in the right hands (5'11"). And how much more refined and poetic Martin is in the Andante from La nuit des tropiques (arranged by Gottschalk’s friend Arthur Napoleão) than Mayer in the world premiere of his own transcription.
As for the Grand Fantaisie on the Brazilian National Hymn, I had to check that Guiomar Novaes had not made any cuts in her classic 1927 recording (APR, 1/15). No. Novaes – 8'51"; Mayer – 10'27", due largely to his constantly putting on the brakes and an inability to respond to such instructions as con impeto, scintillante and con furia. And where are the maestoso and grandioso of the opening measures? The playing of the rest of the programme, which includes three of the composer’s least interesting works, offers a similar listening experience: more of a penance than a pleasure. To hear Gottschalk at his best turn to Martin, Licad, or (if you can track them down) Leonard Pennario and Ivan Davis. Mayer, I’m afraid, doesn’t get Gottschalk.
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