Emil Gilels

[silvestrione]

I heard Gilels at the Royal Festival Hall in the 70s...he played Mozart's Fantasia in D minor, the Schumann Nachtstucke, the four Brahms Ballades, and presumably something else! I still remember how haunting the last pages of the fourth Ballade were....

Most recently I've played his live Melodia recording of Medtner's Sonata-reminiscenza. Terrific. He plays it in one great sweep.

Did David Owen Norris end up just slightly selling him short? His Schubert has been well received, and his Beethoven is surely not to be dismissed as striving for the heroic, etc. However, he was the one who listened to the 80 CDs!

[akiralx]

EG's rather stupendous recordings of the Brahms PCs1 & 2! can't be beaten. Yes I know rather majesterial accounts by today's standards but the superlative playing by all concerned is admirable.(Emil Gilels, Berliner Phil, Eugene Jochum)

Though #2 rather better than #1 - when he agreed to make this recordings he did not tell DG he had never played the D minor and only did it for the chance to work with Jochum whom he greatly admired. So there was no real performance experience brought to the recording of the First Concerto.

[BBMmk2]

Just shows his talent!

[mathias broucek]

One of my absolute favourites in Beethoven and Brahms. There's a terrific 1969 livr 3rd Concerto with Szell and the VPO on Orfeo. Comes with an equally good 5th symphony.

When he died the Gramo obit referred to Gilels having "a secret". Does anyone know what this was?

[visualnickmos]

When he died the Gramo obit referred to Gilels having "a secret". Does anyone know what this was?

Mrs Mills.

[mathias broucek]

When he died the Gramo obit referred to Gilels having "a secret". Does anyone know what this was?

Actually an appreciation by his DG producer (Hanno Rinke) in Sept 1986