Notes and Editorial Reviews
Emil Gilels started studying the piano at the age of six at the Institute of Music and Drama in his home town of Odessa. Following a successful debut in 1929 he moved to the Odessa Conservatoire and it was there two years later that Artur Rubinstein heard him and remarked “If he ever comes to America, I may as well pack by bags and go.” In 1933 he won the first prize in the first All-Union Musicians Competition in Moscow but he returned to complete his studies in Odessa and graduated in 1935.
He attended master classes with Heinrich Neuhaus in Moscow and heard (and later admitted to having been greatly inflenced by) many foreign artists in those years, including Petri, Cortot, Gieseking and Arrau.
Winning second
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prize at the Vienna International Competition in 1936 was followed by winning first prize at the Queen Elisabeth International Festival in Brussels in 1938. He started to teach at the Moscow Conservatoire and was due to have played at the 1939 New York World Fair, but the war intervened and it was not until 1947 that he gave his first concerts outside Russia – France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Denmark.
It was in France that he made his first recording for EMI – the Saint-Saëns second concerto in 1954 which was followed a year later by the Rachmaninov third concerto and the Chopin second sonata. In that year he also became the first major Russian musician to play in the US after the war and his New York debut aroused much enthusiasm as did his first appearance in London during 1959.
Although he now had a international career he did not tour that often nor as extensively as other artists so his appearances were regarded as “events” and, as such, tickets were highly-prized amongst his numerous fans and the piano-cognoscenti. He stands with Sviatoslav Richter as the two greatest Russian pianists of his generation. His virtuosity always placed at the service of the music whilst the lucidity and purity of his pianism captured the very essence of what he was performing. This collection covers so many aspects of his art, encompassing works in which the poetry of the music is tangible and others where his incredible dexterity is matched by fluency to yield performances of breathtaking brilliance. His career was brutally cut short by a heart attack in Moscow just before his 69th birthday.
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Works on This Recording
1.
Concerto for Piano no 1 in C major, Op. 15 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
George Szell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Cleveland Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1795; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 1968
2.
Concerto for Piano no 2 in B flat major, Op. 19 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
George Szell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Cleveland Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1793/1798; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 1968
3.
Concerto for Piano no 3 in C minor, Op. 37 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
George Szell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Cleveland Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1800; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 1968
4.
Concerto for Piano no 4 in G major, Op. 58 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
George Szell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Cleveland Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1806; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 1968
5.
Concerto for Piano no 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 "Emperor" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
George Szell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Cleveland Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1809; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 1968
6.
Variations (32) for Piano in C minor on an Original Theme, WoO 80 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1806; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 1968
7.
Variations (12) for Piano in A major on a theme of Wranitzky, WoO 71 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1796-1797; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 1968
8.
Variations (6) for Piano on an Original Theme in D major, Op. 76 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1809; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 1968
9.
Concerto for Piano no 4 in G major, Op. 58 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
Leopold Ludwig
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1806; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 1957
10.
Concerto for Piano no 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 "Emperor" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
Leopold Ludwig
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1809; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 1957
11.
Concerto for Piano no 1 in C major, Op. 15 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
André Vandernoot
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Society of the Conservatory Concerts Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1795; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 06/1957
12.
Concerto for Piano no 2 in B flat major, Op. 19 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
André Vandernoot
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Society of the Conservatory Concerts Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1793/1798; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 06/1957
13.
Concerto for Piano no 3 in C minor, Op. 37 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
André Cluytens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Society of the Conservatory Concerts Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1800; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 03/1954
14.
Sonata for Piano no 17 in B flat major, K 570 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: 1789; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 03/12/1954
15.
Concerto for Piano no 3 in D minor, Op. 30 by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
André Cluytens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Society of the Conservatory Concerts Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1909; Russia
Date of Recording: 06/13/1955
16.
Concerto for Piano no 2 in G minor, Op. 22 by Camille Saint-Saëns
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
André Cluytens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Society of the Conservatory Concerts Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1868; France
Date of Recording: 03/11/1954
17.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 34: no 5 in D major, Allegro vivace by Dmitri Shostakovich
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1932-1933; USSR
Date of Recording: 10/1955
18.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 34: no 24 in D minor, Allegretto by Dmitri Shostakovich
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1932-1933; USSR
Date of Recording: 10/1955
19.
Concerto for Piano no 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23 by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
Lorin Maazel
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 10/1972
20.
Concerto for Piano no 2 in G major, Op. 44 by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
Lorin Maazel
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1879-1880; Russia
Date of Recording: 10/1972
21.
Concerto for Piano no 3 in E flat major, Op. 75 by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Conductor:
Lorin Maazel
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1893; Russia
Date of Recording: 10/1972
22.
Sonata for Piano no 2 in B flat minor, B 128/Op. 35 "Funeral March" by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1837-1839; Paris, France
23.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 34: no 1 in C major, Moderato by Dmitri Shostakovich
Performer:
Emil Gilels (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1932-1933; USSR
Sound Samples
Piano Concerto No.1 in C Op.15 (1996 Digital Remaster): I. Allegro con brio
Piano Concerto No.1 in C Op.15 (1996 Digital Remaster): II. Largo
Piano Concerto No.1 in C Op.15 (1996 Digital Remaster): III. Rondo (Allegro scherzando) [ Cadenzas by Beethoven]
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat Op. 19 (1996 Digital Remaster): I. Allegro moderato
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat Op. 19 (1996 Digital Remaster): II. Adagio
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat Op. 19 (1996 Digital Remaster): III. Rondo (molto allegro)
Piano Concerto No.3 in C Minor Op.37 (1996 Digital Remaster): Allegro con brio
Piano Concerto No.3 in C Minor Op.37 (1996 Digital Remaster): Largo
Piano Concerto No.3 in C Minor Op.37 (1996 Digital Remaster): Rondo (Allegro - Presto)
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4 in G Op. 58 (1996 Digital Remaster): I. Allegro moderato
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4 in G Op. 58 (1996 Digital Remaster): II. Andante con moto
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4 in G Op. 58 (1996 Digital Remaster): III. Rondo (Vivace)
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