GOTTSCHALK AND CUBA
Antonio Iturrioz, pianist
* A Steinway & Sons recording *
A Journey through 100 years of Cuban Piano Music from Gottschalk to Lecuona. A World Premiere of Gottschalk’s A Night in
the Tropics, Symphony Romantique, both movements on one piano ! ***
“I have listened to your recording and have found it extremely interesting and very well played. I am so glad you did the one piano arrangement of Fiesta Criolla, the second movement of A Night in the Tropics. It is a fun piece and needed to be done well, and so it is! Your Gottschalk and Cuba recording is a needed addition to any music library or collection of Gottschalk through Lecuona.” Byron Janis, pianist
“Congratulations on this extraordinary album of music ! Your projection of the inner life in these works of Gottschalk et al is uncanny. Of course, your technical mastery is beyond complete, but it is your realization of the ‘heart and soul’ of this music which is most impressive. That you have given the world this historic ‘first’re-hearing of Gottschalk’s original intentions for A Night in the Tropics is more than worthy of being recorded for posterity. I wish you well in this endeavor to bring such great music (with your fantastic playing) to the public !” Andre Watts, pianist
“Composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk was born in New Orleans, the northernmost outpost of the Caribbean world. His magnificent “A Night in the Tropics” is a soulful celebration of that world. It is best known today through rather lame orchestral adaptations rather than performances of the original orchestral score. But Gottschalk was a pianist’s pianist who composed the work while sitting at the keyboard. It is therefore in the piano version that one senses most directly the lyricism and emotional intensity of Gottschalk’s original composition. Now, for the first time with this World Premiere recording, Antonio Iturrioz gives us the solo piano version of the complete work. Performed with varying moods but unvarying virtuosity, Iturrioz’s ear-opening performance will delight listeners everywhere, even as it broadens their musical horizons.” Dr. S. Frederick Starr, author of “Bamboula: The Life and Times of L. M. Gottschalk”.