BACH PIANO LEGENDS

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Emil Gilels THE SEATTLE RECITAL Beethoven - Chopin - Debussy - Prokofiev

. . . a colossal recital . . . [Beethoven]: the opening 1803 "Waldstein Sonata" reveals a virtuoso pianist in smart music. The Gilels sonority in "ostinato" energy, runs, and trills penetrates deeply, and his capacity for liquid velocity seems limitless . . . [Chopin / Variations on "Là ci darem" from Mozart's "Don Giovanni"]: We might concur with Robert Schumann, who, in speaking of Chopin, proclaimed, "Hats off, gentlemen, a Genius!" and so say of Emil Gilels . . . [Prokofiev]: From the 1915-17 group of "Visions fugitives" Gilels proffers six, each vignette in color and dynamics, close to the terse spirit of Scriabin. Nos 1, 3, and 5 each sparkle with an ethereal impressionism. The accented dissonances of No. 11 always attract Gilels, who favors this study in contrary-motion scale patterns. No. 10 provides a jumpy etude marked "Ridicolosamente". The last, "Poetico", conveys an elusive veil of notes. Quite a transition in color and dynamics as we enter Debussy's rarified world, liquefied and sensuous in "Reflets dans l'eau" . . . [in the Siloti arrangement of Bach's b minor Prelude, the] lovely gradations of color and inflection add that sense of eternity of which the great pianists own the patent.

(Record Review / Gary Lemco, Audiophile Audition / 27. August 2016)

His recital in Massey Hall in 1956 was, in my opinion, stupendous . . . For listeners who never had the opportunity to hear Gilels live, this new recording comes close to recreating my experience, and as such, it is self-recommending . . . it is impossible not to be swept up in the excitement of these performances, and we are indebted to DG for making this concert recording available commercially for the first time. The longest piece on the CD is Beethoven's "Waldstein" sonata, and this may well be the most exciting, indeed hair-raising, performance this work has ever had. Gilels takes extremely fast tempi throughout, and it is literally incredible that the final "Prestissimo" could be played not only this fast but this accurately with such speed. That said, one can easily imagine that this is how Beethoven conceived the piece: relentlessly powerful, mercurial -- indeed almost schizophrenic in its sudden changes of mood -- and gripping from beginning to end . . . Gilels is an ideal interpreter of Prokofiev's brief Piano Sonata No. 3 . . .

(Record Review / Paul E. Robinson, Musical Toronto / 23. September 2016)