Emil Gilels
Emil Grigoryevich Gilels[a] (Russian: Эми́ль Григо́рьевич Ги́лельс; 19 October 1916 – 14 October 1985) was a Soviet[3] pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time.[4][5]
His sister Elizaveta, three years his junior, was a renowned violinist. His daughter Elena became a successful pianist.
Early life and education
Gilels was born to a
Gilels had
In May 1929, aged 12, Gilels gave his first public concert.
In 1932, Gilels first visited Heinrich Neuhaus. In 1933, Gilels participated in the First All-Union Competition of Performers in Moscow, and won first prize by unanimous decision. This win made Gilels famous throughout the USSR, and led to a nationwide concert tour. However, the stresses of touring led Gilels to curtail his touring and to return to Odessa, to conclude his studies, even declining an invitation to transfer to the Moscow Conservatory. Gilels subsequently regarded Reingbald as his true teacher, mentor and lifelong friend.
Gilels graduated from the Odessa Conservatory in the autumn of 1935. Subsequently, he was accepted into the class of Heinrich Neuhaus as a postgraduate student at the Moscow Conservatory, and Gilels renewed his commitment to giving concerts. In 1936, he participated in his first international competition, the International Vienna Music Academy Competition. Gilels took the second place award, while his friend and fellow student Yakov Flier was the first prize winner. Two years later, in 1938, both Gilels and Flier participated in the Ysaÿe International Festival (Queen Elisabeth Competition) in Brussels. Gilels was awarded first prize, and Flier took third prize. Gilels completed his studies in Moscow in 1938.
Career
Following his activities in Brussels, a scheduled tour and American debut at the 1939 New York World's Fair was aborted because of the outbreak of the Second World War. Sergei Rachmaninoff, living in exile from Russia, had heard of the reputation of Gilels, and began to listen to Gilels' radio performances. Rachmaninoff subsequently regarded Gilels as his pianistic successor, and sent him his medal and diploma. This medal, engraved with the profile of Anton Rubinstein, and the diploma were once presented to Rachmaninoff to symbolize his succession from Rubinstein, and Rachmaninoff himself added Gilels’ name to the document. Gilels treasured these relics all his life.[8]
In 1944, Gilels premiered Prokofiev's
Gilels was one of the first Soviet artists, along with
In 1981, Gilels suffered a
Gilels was married twice. He was first married to pianist Rosa Tamarkina in 1940. His second wife was Fariset (Lala) Hutsistova, a graduate of Moscow Conservatoire, whom he married in 1947. They had a daughter, Elena, a pianist who graduated from Flier’s class at the Moscow Conservatoire, and who performed and recorded with her father.
Recordings
Gilels is universally admired for his superb technical control and burnished tone.
Gilels' recordings for most of his recording history were for the state record company for classical music repertoire, Melodiya. These recordings, in turn, were licensed in the west under EMI Records, and in the United States under Angel Records (and EMI's budget Seraphim Records). In 2013 Warner Classics absorbed EMI Classics, thereby acquiring the bulk of Gilels' recordings.
Gilels was in the midst of completing a recording cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas for the German record company
Notable recordings
- 1935 – Fantasia on Themes from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro
- 1951 – Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9
- 1954 – Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 (cond. Cluytens)*
- 1954 – Medtner: Piano Sonata No. 5 in G Minor, Op. 22
- 1955 – Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 [cond. Fritz Reiner]
- 1955 – Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 (cond. Cluytens)
- 1957 – Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 (cond. Ludwig)
- 1957 – Piano Sonata No. 4in F sharp major, Op. 30*
- 1957 – Weinberg: Piano Sonata No. 4 in B Minor
- 1968 – Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1–5; solo piano pieces (Beethoven) (Cleveland Orchestra cond. George Szell)
- 1958 – Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83 (cond. Reiner)
- 1961 – Siloti) (Moscow)*
- 1968 – Medtner: Piano Sonata No. 10 in A minor, Op. 38 No. 1 ("Sonata Reminiscenza") (Moscow)*
- 1968 – Liszt: Rhapsodie espagnole (Leningrad)*
- 1971 – Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83 (cond. Mario Rossi) (Köln)*
- 1970 – Orchestre National de l'ORTF), (Claves Records)[18]
- 1972 – Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 44 (cond. Maazel)
- 1972 – Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15 and Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83 (cond. Jochum)
- 1973 – Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ("Appassionata")
- 1973 – Debussy: Images, Book 1*
- 1973 – Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major, K595 (cond. Boehm)
- 1974 – Grieg: Lyric Pieces[19]
- 1974 – Prokofiev: Sonata No. 3 in a minor, Op. 28 (Köln)*
- 1974 – Prokofiev: Sonata No. 8 in B flat major, Op. 84
- 1976 – Schubert: Forellenquintett ("Trout Quintet") Quintet for Piano, Violin, Violoncello, and Contrabass in A major D667 (with Amadeus Quartet)
- 1977 – Rachmaninoff, Prelude in C-sharp minor Op. 3 No. 2 (Moscow)*
- 1978 – Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
- 1979 – Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 (New York)*
- 1982 – Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106 Hammerklavier (Berlin)
- 1984 – Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 (Moscow)*
- 1984 – Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F-sharp minor, Op. 23 (Moscow)*
- 1984 – Symphonic Studies(Live in concert in Japan)
- 1985 – Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat, Op. 73
Prizes, awards and honors
This section is in prose. is available. (March 2019) |
- Soviet Union
- 1st Prize, All-Soviet Union Piano Competition, 1933
- 2nd Prize, Vienna International Piano Competition, 1936
- 1st Prize, Concours Eugène Ysaÿe, Brussels, 1938
- Stalin Prize, USSR, 1946
- People's Artist of the USSR, 1954
- Three Orders of Lenin, USSR, including 1961
- Lenin Prize, 1962
- Hero of Socialist Labour, 1976
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour
- Order of the Friendship of Peoples, 1981
- Order of the Badge of Honour
- Foreign
- Commandeur, Ordre de Mérite Culturel et Artistique de Paris , 1967
- Gold Medal of the City of Paris, France
- Order of Leopold (Belgium)
- Honorary Member, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome
- Honorary Member, Royal Academy of Music, London
- Honorary Professor, Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest
Notes
References
- OCLC 407142.
- OCLC 13487651.
- ^ "The 20 Greatest Pianists of all time". Classical Music. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
- ^ a b c John Rockwell (1985-10-16). "Emil Gilels, Soviet Pianist, Dies at 68". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
- ^ "The 10 Greatest Pianists Of All Time". Limelight Magazine. January 7, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
- ^ Carrick, Phil (2013-09-21). "Emil Gilels: A True Giant of the Keyboard". Music Makers (ABC Classic FM). Archived from the original on 2015-01-26. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-486-26695-4.
- ^ "Triumph in Brussels (1938 – 1941)". Emil Gilels Foundation. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-300-14500-7.
- ^ "Emil Gilels Plays", Russian television documentary, VHS release on Japanese label IVC, cat. no. IVCV-64144
- ^ "CalmView: Overview".
- ISBN 978-0-691-09549-3.
- ISBN 978-1-55553-710-4.
- ^ "Emil Gilels", In Memory of Emil Gilels, 2007. Accessed June 3, 2007.
- ^ International Piano Quarterly, Winter 2001, Orpheus Publications Limited
- ^ Andrew Clements (2006-12-21). "Emil Gilels: The Early Recordings". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
- ^ John Rockwell (1985-10-16). "Emil Gilels, Soviet Pianist, Dies at 68". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
- ^ "(2009) Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 37 (Live Recording, Lausanne 1970)". Claves Records. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
- ^ J.O.C. "Emil Gilels's searching recording of Grieg's Lyric Pieces". Gramophone Magazine. Archived from the original on 2009-07-10.