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Gottschalk on Period Instruments

steveh64 | Matthews, NC USA | 11/28/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is Gottschalk on original instruments -- that is, played on pianos of the 19th century. Richard Burnett, proprietor of Finchcocks museum of historical instruments in Kent, England, performs on three different pianos of types that Gottschalk likely used during his lifetime.The earliest one, used in only 3 of the 17 pieces, is an 1826 Graf. (Think of it: as this piano was being built in Vienna, across the city Beethoven was still alive and composing!). Not surprisingly, it is the one which sounds most unlike a modern instrument -- to my untrained ears, its tone lies somewhere between a present-day piano and a cembalom, that dulcimer-like instrument Kodaly used in his Hary Janos Suite. And in the first several notes of track #1 (Le Bananier, or The Banana Tree) it sounds positively guitar-like! From those first six seconds alone, I would never have guessed I was listening to a piano.The other two instruments on this disc are a circa-1850 Broadwood and an 1866 Erard, both made in London and both of which sound closer to modern pianos. Burnett, who also wrote the excellent notes which accompany the recording, says that "the choice of instrument for each piece has been made purely on their tonal characteristics."Burnett's performances are good to excellent, and the digital recording is fine. The sound of these historic pianos is intriguing; and while I would want to have at least one recording played on a modern piano, I highly recommend this one to supplement it."