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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Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 - Debussy: Images, Book 1 - Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 3 - Visions fugitives
Emil Gilels, Mario Rossi, Kölner Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester
Clásica - Editado por Ica Classics el 03-09-2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6 & Other Orchestral Works
Emil Gilels, Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nikolaï Golovanov
Clásica - Editado por Urania Records el 08-12-2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Great Concertos: The Best of DG Originals
Mstislav Rostropovich, Emil Gilels, Anne-Sophie Mutter
Clásica - Editado por Deutsche Grammophon (DG) el 01-01-2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Бетховен. Концерты для фортепиано с оркестром (1976 Remastered)
Emil Gilels, Государственный симфонический оркестр СССР
Clásica - Editado por RC3 el 17-09-2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 (1969 Remastered)
Clásica - Editado por RC3 el 27-08-2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor" - Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
Emil Gilels, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Leopold Ludwig, André Cluytens
Clásica - Editado por Jube Classic el 22-05-2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Variations
Clásica - Editado por Warner Classics el 05-04-2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Chicago Golden Years (1954-1957)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Emil Gilels, Fritz Reiner
Clásica - Editado por Andromeda el 01-07-2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Emil Gilels: Live from the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory on October 20, 1980 (Live)
Clásica - Editado por JSC Firma Melodiya el 01-01-2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Emil Gilels Legacy Vol. 11: Beethoven, Rachmaninoff (Live)
Emil Gilels, Eugen Jochum, Eugene Ormandy, Concertgebouworkest, Philadelphia Orchestra
Clásica - Editado por DOREMI el 15-05-2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Works
Emil Gilels, USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Clásica - Editado por Russian Compact Disc el 01-01-2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 & The Nutcracker
Emil Gilels, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Fritz Reiner
Clásica - Editado por Mangora Classic el 01-01-2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Trio NO.7 - Rachmaninov: Prelude and Oriental Dance - Granados: Spanish Dances NO. 5 ’Andaluza’ - Chopin: Introduction and Polonaise Brillante (Live)
Emil Gilels, Leonid Kogan, Mstislav Rostropovich, Alexander Dedyukhin
Clásica - Editado por Altair el 08-07-2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K 467 / Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor, OP. 23
Clásica - Editado por RC3 el 25-10-2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Trio No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 97 "The Archduke"
Emil Gilels, Leonid Kogan, Mstislav Rostropovich
Música de cámara - Editado por The state51 Conspiracy el 03-04-2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Emil Gilels 100, Vol. 1
Clásica - Editado por JSC Firma Melodiya el 01-01-2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Violin Works (Live)
Leonid Kogan, The USSR TV & Radio Symphony Orchestra, Emil Gilels, Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Clásica - Editado por Russian Compact Disc el 06-08-2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas No.8, No.23 & No.31
Clásica - Editado por Decca (UMO) el 01-01-2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg - Piano Concerto in a Minor
Emil Gilels, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Clásica - Editado por RC3 el 31-10-2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 - Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2
Clásica - Editado por Ica Classics el 06-09-2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Emil Gilels Legacy, Vol. 8: Studio & Live Recordings (1950-1963)
Emil Gilels, Radio Announcer - Grand Hall of Leningrad Philharmonic, 15 February, 1963
Clásica - Editado por DOREMI el 11-05-2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo