Gottschalk spent his life as an itinerant virtuoso, performing thousands of concerts across Europe, North America, and South America to support his family.
Interpretation
Richard Rosenberg, the conductor, meticulously reconstructed every note of Gottschalk's works for this recording from often smudged manuscripts or bad copies, a task that others had previously failed to do successfully.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Gottschalk was the first to capture the syncopated music of South Louisiana and the Caribbean in enduring works that anticipate ragtime and jazz by half a century.
Compositional Technique
Gottschalk's works on this album show influences from composers like Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (Napoleon's favorite composer), Donizetti, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, and Wagner, despite his Latin lyricism and Germanophobe tendencies.
Recording & Production
This recording features several works by Gottschalk that are either first recordings of the composer's original version or world premiere recordings.
Composer Biography
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, known as the 'Chopin of the Creoles', was a child prodigy pianist who toured Europe as a virtuoso concert soloist while still a teenager.
Composition History
Many of Gottschalk's larger works, including several operas and orchestral pieces, were lost after his death at age 39 in Rio de Janeiro, as he had no time to prepare them for publication.
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