Emil Gilels
Emil Gilels was one of the great pianists of history, renowned for his clear, steady playing as much as for his virtuoso brilliance. He was a master of a wide repertory from the time of Bach to his own compatriots and one of the first pianists to adopt a modern, more objective style of playing and interpreting music. He was also one of the first Soviet artists allowed to perform in the West following World War II. His numerous recordings made both in studio and from live recitals and on both Soviet state-sponsored and Western labels have been digitally remastered for contemporary listeners to experience his legacy.
Gilels was born in Odessa on October 19, 1916. The son of a bookkeeper in a sugar factory, Gilels grew up in a musical family: his parents were enthusiastic amateur pianists. Gilels' younger sister, Elizabeth, became a violinist. He entered the Odessa Institute of Music and Drama in 1922 to study with Yakov Tkatch and Berthe Ringold. Following a successful debut as a child prodigy in 1929, he transferred to study at the Odessa Conservatory in 1932, where Arthur Rubinstein heard him. With Rubinstein's encouragement, Gilels entered the All-Union Musicians' Competition for pianists in 1933 and captured the top prize, the first in a string of prizes he would win in international competitions in the mid-'30s. He was simultaneously studying with Heinrich Neuhaus at the Moscow Conservatory and became Neuhaus' assistant in 1938. Gilels and David Oistrakh were meant to appear at the 1939 New York World's Fair, but the outbreak of World War II in Europe prevented their travel. Throughout the war, Gilels was confined to the Soviet Union, performing for the troops and in occupied cities. After the war, he won the Stalin Prize, and over the years, he was given many other awards and honors in recognition of his contributions to morale during the war.
Gilels, Leonid Kogan -- his sister's husband -- and Mstislav Rostropovich formed a trio in 1945. Gilels and his sister gave recitals after the war, and he also performed two-piano music with Yacov Flier. In 1947, Gilels married pianist and composer Farizet Khutsyostova, whom he had met when they were both students at the Moscow Conservatory. Their daughter Elena also became a concert pianist. The year after Gilels' marriage, he made his first appearance outside the Soviet Union, a recital in Prague. This was followed by concerts in Florence, Scandinavia, and Berlin and by his first recordings. Gilels made his triumphant American debut in October 1955 with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, becoming the first prominent Soviet musician to appear in the United States since the start of the Cold War. He went on to perform to equal acclaim in New York, where the contrast between his small physical stature and his magisterial playing prompted the New York Times to call him "the little giant." Gilels returned to North America for a Canadian tour the following year and had another successful debut in England in 1959.
Gilels was a two-time recipient of the Order of Lenin in the 1960s, as well as the Order of Commandeur Mérite Culturel et Artistique de Paris and Belgium's Order of Leopold. Throughout his performing career, Gilels continued to teach at the Moscow Conservatory, taking a few private students and teaching classes in technique. He died in Moscow on October 14, 1985. Gilels' strength was in the clarity and ease with which he played, in his brilliance, and in his "strong and unassuming musicianship," as critic Harold Schoenberg, who called him the "thinking man's pianist," put it. Indeed, Gilels' interpretations were always thought-provoking, inviting the listener the grasp the spiritual and intellectual totality of a particular composition. The list of composers he was known for playing is long, but a survey of his recordings, from youthful impulsiveness to mature mastery of subtle detail, is a well-rewarded journey.
© TiVo Staff /TiVo
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Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Л. Бетховен: Две Сонаты Для Фортепиано (Remastered 2022)
Classical - Released by RC3 on 17 Dec 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos.21"Waldstein", 26 "Les Adieux" & 23 "Appassionata"
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Emil Gilels: Solo Piano Recital. April 9, 1962 (Live)
Classical - Released by JSC Firma Melodiya on 17 May 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Piano Quintet "The Trout"; String Quartet "Death and the Maiden"
Emil Gilels, Amadeus Quartet, Rainer Zepperitz
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 7 Apr 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Paris Recital (1960 Remastered)
Classical - Released by RC3 on 21 Jan 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 25 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25; 4 Ballades, Op. 10
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Polonaises Nos. 1-6; Piano Sonata No. 3
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Emil Gilels - Early Recordings
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Master of Beethoven
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 1 Dec 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Emil Gilels
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 27 Feb 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Seattle Recital
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 19 Aug 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Opp. 101 & 106 "Hammerklavier"
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gilels plays Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, Emil Gilels
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 4 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas No. 15 "Pastorale", No. 17 "The Tempest" & No. 18
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Encores
Martha Argerich, Alexis Weissenberg, Emil Gilels
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos.27, 28, 30 & 31
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Чайковский. Концерт № 1 для фортепиано с оркестром (1965 Remastered)
Classical - Released by RC3 on 20 Aug 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Mozart Recordings on DG
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concerto No.1
Emil Gilels, Berliner Philharmoniker, Eugen Jochum
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo