Emil Gilels

[Drasko]

There is no general thread on Gilels, so this could be it. Feel free to post whatever you want about him. Impressions, favorite recordings, ones to be avoided ....

I actually just wanted to post this:

http://www.mediafire.com/?zogmjmcjuoy

It is off air recording of russian radio broadcast from 1952 (25th or 26th October), Emil Gilels playing Ravel's Concerto for left hand accompanied by Leningrad Philharmonic under Kurt Sanderling. I can't readily recall any other official or unofficial recording of Gilels playing the piece.
Audio quality is not great but best I know.

I posted it yesterday on rmcr, it didn't garner much discussion but it had about hundred downloads in a day, so I thought maybe here some would be interested as well. 

[Josquin des Prez]

Gilels = Genius. That is all.

[George]

Great idea for a thread!

I think his incomplete Beethoven Piano Sonata set on DG is excellent. It is the most consistent set (complete or incomplete that I have ever heard. His outer movements may be often a bit slow for me, but the slow movements have never sounded so good, even surpassing Schnabel's in beauty and in depth.

I also love his Brahms concertos on DG. Great stuff!   

[Mandryka]

Here's my favourite Gilels disc.

No one does the Mozart or the Chopin better -- in my opinion.

And I prefer the Shostakovich to both Richter and Nikolaieva, and even to Shostokovich himself.

Beethoven . . . slow movements have never sounded so good, even surpassing Schnabel's in beauty and in depth.

Did Gilels do the last Beethoven sonata (#32)? Impossible to make the slow movement of that sound better than Schnabel!

Oh --and my least favourite is that Mozart Concerto with Boehm (#27), though I know it has its followers.

To me it always sounds as though there's a tension between the conductor and the pianist.

[Josquin des Prez]

Did Gilels do the last Beethoven sonata (#32)? Impossible to make the slow movement of that sound better than Schnabel!

I guess you have never heard Edwin Fischer. 

And no, Gilels never recorded the Opus 111, unfortunately. 

[ezodisy]

Gilels = Genius. That is all.

I guess you have never heard Edwin Fischer. 

And no, Gilels never recorded the Opus 111, unfortunately. 

Stiick to your word please.

My favourite Gilels performance is the live Schumann concerto with Bohm, available on Andante.

[orbital]

Maybe I have not heard enough from him that's why my answer is no, but do you people think you could more or less tell a Gilels performance if you are not told who the pianist is? I mean, is there a discerning characteristic to his playing? something I've wondered for long.

[B_cereus]

Did Gilels do the last Beethoven sonata (#32)?

According to people that knew him, he played the #32 in private. But he never recorded it, he was meant to do it for DG to complete his cycle for them, but unexpectedly died before he could.

[aquablob]

Gilels' "Hammerklavier" — do you love it or hate it?

[George]

Gilels' "Hammerklavier" — do you love it or hate it?

It's not among those that I love (in order, Pollini, Gulda, A Fischer, Solomon, Serkin) but it is among those that I like.

[dirkronk]

Gilels' "Hammerklavier" — do you love it or hate it?

I like the live Gilels version from 1984 quite a bit--and more than the studio DGG--though my own faves in that piece reflect George's list rather closely.

For me, Gilels' traversal of Beethoven's 4th and 5th piano concerti with Ludwig are the recordings of his that first pop to my mind as "great" (yes, even before his Brahms concerti with Jochum, which I like a lot but do not venerate as highly as other collectors). That said, there are plenty of Gilels items in my collection that I'm not about to give up. His GPOC sets are treasures, and IMO so are the Brilliant boxes. I just flipped through my historic LP cabinet and discovered some live Gilels that I haven't put on in quite a while, including a couple with REALLY old stuff from the '30s (when he was in his early 20s) and '40s--I think I'll put these out to listen to this week.

Cheers,

Dirk

[aquablob]

I also find Pollini, Gulda, and Solomon Cutner more convincing in the Hammerklavier than Gilels (DG). It really comes down to his snail's pace of the first movement (the other movements are terrific).

Some of his other DG LvB recordings, though, I'd have trouble living without (Opp. 81a and 101, for example)!

[Holden]

Gilels is in my top 5 of all time. There are recordings of his that I consider indispensible and it's his consistency the at times translates into genius that make him so special for me. Those recordings are:

LvB:
Op 28 (DG),
Op 53 (Live in Aix-enProvence 1966)
Op 57 live in Moscow 1961
Op 81a (DG)
32 Variations in C minor WoO 80 (EMI)

PC #4 (Ludwig/Philharmonia)

Saint-Saens: PC # 2 (Cluytens)
Schubert: Moments Musicaux
Schumann: Nachtstucke Op 23
Grieg: Lyric Pieces
Brahms: PC#1 (Bohm)
Brahms: Fantasiestucke Op 116
Mozart Concerto for 2 pianos K365 (With Elizaveta Gilels)
Tchaikovsky Piano trio in A minor (scratchy MP3 copy)

[George]

...IMO so are the Brilliant boxes. I just flipped through my historic LP cabinet and discovered some live Gilels that I haven't put on in quite a while, including a couple with REALLY old stuff from the '30s (when he was in his early 20s) and '40s--I think I'll put these out to listen to this week.

Yes his live Appassionata from that Brilliant box is explosive.    

[DavidRoss]

Gilels = Genius. That is all.

Nice to see you acknowledge that virtuosity = genius.

Gilels' "Hammerklavier" — do you love it or hate it?

Love it.  Like his Waldstein better, however.

[Josquin des Prez]

Nice to see you acknowledge that virtuosity = genius.

Is there a professional classical musician who isn't a virtuoso? You are wrong of course. For instance, i simply cannot stand Hamelin.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Nice to see you acknowledge that virtuosity = genius.

Nice to see you back, David.

[Josquin des Prez]

Yes his live Appassionata from that Brilliant box is explosive.    

Ho yes. Still, Moravec > all.

[George]

Ho yes. Still, Moravec > all.

I have yet to hear Moravec's Appassionata. 

[George]

Gilels is in my top 5 of all time. There are recordings of his that I consider indispensible and it's his consistency the at times translates into genius that make him so special for me. Those recordings are:

LvB:
Op 28 (DG),

Interesting, this is one performance from his set that I really did not like. Perhaps I should revisit it.