Double Your Pleasure
Hannibal | Los Angeles, CA USA | 07/20/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is a delightful excursion into early-American "kitsch," and these recordings, despite having been around for half a century, have held up remarkably well. If you like to hear music which makes no demands on you, these largely piano pieces are tuneful and charming, even if superficial.
Although not noted here, this is a TWO-DISC set (the second CD - called Vol.2) is selling by itself here at Amazon for more than twice the cost! so this represents great value besides."
Praise for Gottschalk!!!
Thomas Randall | Port Jefferson, New York United States | 12/26/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've always loved Gottschalk's music and this is still my favorite recording of his music. He was America's first great pianist and his works run the gamut from sentimental salon pieces to infectious compositions which are laced with Caribbean syncopated rhythms that seem to presage jazz. While not intellectually deep the pieces are nevertheless thoroughly infectious. In life he was a matinee idol and a rascal with the women. Read his well written autobiography which details not only his travels but also his observations of the country around the time of the Civil War. He was an American original."