Emil Gilels is the musical embodiment of courage. Soviet pianist Emil Gilels. Biography Emil Gilels biography personal life
The name of Emil Gilels has long been inscribed in golden letters in the history of world music. This is not an artist, but art itself, the press wrote enthusiastically about Emil Gilels. Moscow discovered this musician in 1933. Then he, 16 years old, won the All-Union Piano Competition.
The jury greeted the young musician standing, because at the age of 16 he was already a world-class pianist. In 1938, his level was assessed at a competition in Brussels. And among the fans was Queen Elizabeth herself. On the maestro’s birthday, we decided to talk with his grandson, pianist Kirill Gilels.
— Kirill, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of your great relative Emil Gilels. What anniversary events are held in honor of this event? How is the legacy of a great pianist preserved?
— A magnificent festival was held in Freiburg, Germany (the third in a row since 2012) with the participation of maestro Grigory Sokolov, Evgeny Kissin and George Lee. In Moscow these days an exhibition is opening in the Apartment Museum of A. B. Goldenweiser and in the foyer of the Tchaikovsky Hall. There will also be concerts, both at the Moscow Conservatory and Philharmonic, and in many cities of our Fatherland and beyond.
This year, the Azbukovnik publishing house published a book by my grandmother, Emil Gilels’ wife Farizet Gilels, “My Gilels. Through the prism of love” (Collection of her memories and diary entries).
The pianist’s legacy is taken care of by his family – me and my dad, Emil Grigorievich’s son-in-law. In addition to working with the archive and converting it into digital data, we are also working on recordings of Emil Gilels’ performances.
Emil Gilels said:
“My monument is my records: I will be gone, but the records will remain.”
Our company Melodiya has made a fantastic project - a worthy box with 50 discs, including previously unpublished recordings! The German Deutsche Gramophon also pleased the listener with its collection of recordings. In general, the anniversary is just beginning - and many more events await us!
— How did Emil Grigorievich start playing music? Where did he spend his childhood?
— I spent my childhood in Odessa, which in those years was the center of cultural life, the flow of which was not hindered by either revolution or war.
Emil Gilels began studying music very early - at the age of three. There was an old “Shredder” in the house - an instrument that immediately attracted little Mil. He was amazed by the sound of the instrument and the rhythms, especially attracted by the keyboard, which he could barely reach with his small hands. His desire to “select” sounds was so strong - not a day passed without “Mil” “playing”. The musicians who lived in the house drew attention to this.
— Has Emil Grigorievich ever spoken to members of the government? Did he somehow characterize them? Were you nervous before such performances?
— Quite often, Emil Grigorievich took part in “government” concerts. Grandfather was outside the political system, so he did not comment on “special” listeners.
I don’t think that the social status of the listener mattered to him: Emil Grigorievich was guided by considerations of professional conscience and his understanding of the artistic mission.
— During the war, Emil Grigorievich gave concerts at the front and in hospitals, and in 1943 he performed in besieged Leningrad. Did he talk about this?
— I often told it, including to my father. About the concert and the trip itself. As Stalin at the reception, approaching Emil, said -
“Emil is a real hero. When he plays, the guns are silent.”
— What incident happened at a concert in Stockholm in 1968?
— This is a reaction to the entry of Soviet troops into Prague: Western listeners “boycotted” our artists as best they could. And this also affected my grandfather. At the request of the State Concert, the artist could not refuse to perform, despite the hooting and hostility of the crowd surrounding the Soviet diplomatic missions.
Similar things happened in the concert hall. The grandfather went on stage, stood, listened to the whistles and shouts, and left with a sense of dignity. The contract was respected, the State Concert received the currency.
— When Khrushchev was removed, Gilels visited him. Did he say anything about this? Did he understand what this could threaten him with?
“He was a man of principle and was not afraid of anyone. Of course, he understood everything. And moreover, not in connection with Khrushchev, but there were troubles. For example, when he rejected the State Concert’s ban on performing Stravinsky’s works. Then Emil Grigorievich called Minister Ekaterina Furtseva and said:
“Maybe Debussy should also be banned, since Napoleon burned Moscow?”
— What was Emil Grigorievich like in life?
— Honest, principled, sympathetic and modest. What a wonderful grandfather! I remember how from a trip to Japan he brought me a car (oh, what a car it was!) and a marzipan banana and a peach.
Emil Grigorievich never separated from people; he could, for example, calmly go to the store for kefir without experiencing discomfort. At the same time, he could put any impudent person in his place, and sometimes just a glance from Emil Grigorievich was enough for this.
— They say that Emil Grigorievich appreciated humor. Any interesting stories you can tell about this?
— He loved good jokes and knew how to tell them. Unlike my colleagues, I didn’t like humor that offended people, what my contemporaries call “trolling.” He loved academic literary jokes and historical situations.
— What were Emil Grigorievich’s favorite composers? Whose works did he like to perform?
— Loved Beethoven, Schumann, Mozart and Brahms. In general, Emil Grigorievich performed music from the end of the 18th century until the beginning of the 20th - i.e. from Mozart to Brahms.
As for Russian music, I loved Rachmaninov and Prokofiev. A separate story is Tchaikovsky, whom Gilels performed in a cycle (I mean his piano concertos, all three).
Emil Grigorievich Gilels was born in Odessa on October 19, 1916. He began to study music early, his first teacher was Ya. I. Tkach, who at one time studied in Paris with the famous Raoul Pugnot (R. Pugnot’s teacher was J. Mathias, a student of Chopin). The weaver immediately realized what kind of talent he was dealing with. Gilels was only 9 years old when the teacher wrote in his description: “In the future, the USSR will be enriched with a world-class pianist.”
On June 11, 1929, Gilels gave his first solo concert. 50 years later, in 1979, he celebrated this event with concerts at the Odessa Opera House and in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.
In 1930, Gilels entered the Odessa Conservatory in the class of B. M. Reingbald, whom he considered his true musical teacher, and a year later he played at the All-Ukrainian Musicians Competition in Kharkov. In the same 1931, Arthur Rubinstein, who came on tour to Odessa, listened to him, and subsequently more than once recalled his first meeting with Gilels: “I cannot find words to describe how he played. I will say one thing: if he ever comes to the United States , I have nothing to do here."
In 1933, at the First All-Union Competition of Performing Musicians, a little-known sixteen-year-old boy in Moscow overturned all predictions regarding the outcome of the competition. “I remember well,” said pianist Maria Grinberg, “how he played Liszt’s Paraphrase on a theme from Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and how at the last climax the whole audience stood up.” Having unconditionally won the competition, Gilels became famous throughout the country. People wanted to listen to him everywhere. And he played a lot, so much that there was not enough time for the necessary quiet work. And then, with his characteristic determination, the young pianist interrupts his concert performances and returns to Odessa, to Reingbald. Having graduated from the conservatory in November 1935, Gilels went to Moscow, to the School of Higher Excellence at the Moscow Conservatory, where G. G. Neuhaus became his director. Soon Otto Klemperer comes to Moscow on tour and Gilels plays Beethoven’s Third Concerto with him. Playwright Alexander Afinogenov wrote in his diary: Gilels “touched the keys - and the piano rang with some kind of purity and soulfulness. And Klemperer led the orchestra, as if laying it under the piano - creating a soft background for the performer, from this the piano benefited even more, and the audience appreciated This".
In 1938, the Eugene Ysaï International Piano Competition was held in Brussels, the prestige of which was extremely high, and the program was particularly complex. Just the list of names of the jury members can make any musician tremble: Walter Gieseking, Emil Sauer, Arthur Rubinstein, Robert Casadesus, Samuel Feinberg, Carlo Zecchi, Leopold Stokowski... The composition of the participants was very strong, suffice it to say that Arturo was among them Benedetti Michelangeli. Gilels won a brilliant victory. Emil Sauer, a student of Franz Liszt and Nikolai Rubinstein, said that he had not heard such talent in the last half century, in other words, since the time of his great teachers.
But it was not in the musician’s nature to calmly reap the fruits of success - he works hard, without giving himself a break. In the same year, the School of Higher Excellence was left behind, and Gilels began teaching at the Moscow Conservatory. The Great Patriotic War began. Gilels plays in military units, in hospitals, in the rear; one of the first to go to besieged Leningrad. In 1945 he speaks in Potsdam at a conference of heads of government of the USSR, USA, and Great Britain.
After the end of the war, he was given the most important mission: to represent Soviet art, the art of the victorious country, in many countries for the first time. So, in 1955, he was the first Soviet musician to go on tour to the USA, where he created a sensation.
Years passed. Gilels' concert activity acquired global proportions. Wherever he played, triumphs became almost a familiar background. He performed with the most famous orchestras and conductors, his records entered the homes of millions of people. On September 12, 1985, Gilels gave a concert in Helsinki, which turned out to be the last of his life; a month later, on October 14, he died suddenly in Moscow.
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He began to study music early, his first teacher was Ya. I. Tkach, who at one time studied in Paris with the famous Raoul Pugnot (R. Pugnot’s teacher was J. Mathias, a student of Chopin).
Emil Grigorievich Gilels was born in Odessa on October 19, 1916. He began to study music early, his first teacher was Ya. I. Tkach, who at one time studied in Paris with the famous Raoul Pugnot (R. Pugnot’s teacher was J. Mathias, a student of Chopin). The weaver immediately realized what kind of talent he was dealing with. Gilels was only 9 years old when the teacher wrote in his description: “In the future, the USSR will be enriched with a world-class pianist.”
On June 11, 1929, Gilels gave his first solo concert. 50 years later, in 1979, he celebrated this event with concerts at the Odessa Opera House and in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.
In 1930, Gilels entered the Odessa Conservatory in the class of B. M. Reingbald, whom he considered his true musical teacher, and a year later he played at the All-Ukrainian Musicians Competition in Kharkov. In the same 1931, Arthur Rubinstein, who came on tour to Odessa, listened to him, and subsequently more than once recalled his first meeting with Gilels: “I cannot find words to describe how he played. I will say one thing: if he ever comes to the United States , I have nothing to do here."
In 1933, at the First All-Union Competition of Performing Musicians, a little-known sixteen-year-old boy in Moscow overturned all predictions regarding the outcome of the competition. “I remember well,” said pianist Maria Grinberg, “how he played Liszt’s Paraphrase on a theme from Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and how at the last climax the whole audience stood up.” Having unconditionally won the competition, Gilels became famous throughout the country. People wanted to listen to him everywhere. And he played a lot, so much that there was not enough time for the necessary quiet work. And then, with his characteristic determination, the young pianist interrupts his concert performances and returns to Odessa, to Reingbald. Having graduated from the conservatory in November 1935, Gilels went to Moscow, to the School of Higher Excellence at the Moscow Conservatory, where G. G. Neuhaus became his director. Soon Otto Klemperer comes to Moscow on tour and Gilels plays Beethoven’s Third Concerto with him. Playwright Alexander Afinogenov wrote in his diary: Gilels “touched the keys - and the piano rang with some kind of purity and soulfulness. And Klemperer led the orchestra, as if laying it under the piano - creating a soft background for the performer, from this the piano benefited even more, and the audience appreciated This".
In 1938, the Eugene Ysaï International Piano Competition was held in Brussels, the prestige of which was extremely high, and the program was particularly complex. Just the list of names of the jury members can make any musician tremble: Walter Gieseking, Emil Sauer, Arthur Rubinstein, Robert Casadesus, Samuel Feinberg, Carlo Zecchi, Leopold Stokowski... The composition of the participants was very strong, suffice it to say that Arturo was among them Benedetti Michelangeli. Gilels won a brilliant victory. Emil Sauer, a student of Franz Liszt and Nikolai Rubinstein, said that he had not heard such talent in the last half century, in other words, since the time of his great teachers.
But it was not in the musician’s nature to calmly reap the fruits of success - he works hard, without giving himself a break. In the same year, the School of Higher Excellence was left behind, and Gilels began teaching at the Moscow Conservatory. The Great Patriotic War began. Gilels plays in military units, in hospitals, in the rear; one of the first to go to besieged Leningrad. In 1945 he speaks in Potsdam at a conference of heads of government of the USSR, USA, and Great Britain.
After the end of the war, he was given the most important mission: to represent Soviet art, the art of the victorious country, in many countries for the first time. So, in 1955, he was the first Soviet musician to go on tour to the USA, where he created a sensation.
Years passed. Gilels' concert activity acquired global proportions. Wherever he played, triumphs became almost a familiar background. He performed with the most famous orchestras and conductors, his records entered the homes of millions of people. On September 12, 1985, Gilels gave a concert in Helsinki, which turned out to be the last of his life; a month later, on October 14, he died suddenly in Moscow.
Gilels had an immense repertoire, he was universal in his ability to make “his own” music from a wide variety of eras and styles - from Mozart to Prokofiev, from Beethoven to Stravinsky.
Gilels Emil Grigorievich (10/19/1916 - 10/14/1985) - pianist. Born in Odessa. He began to study music early, his first teacher was Ya. I. Tkach, who at one time studied in Paris with the famous Raoul Pugnot (R. Pugnot’s teacher was J. Mathias, a student of Chopin). The weaver immediately realized what kind of talent he was dealing with; Gilels was only 9 years old when the teacher wrote in his description: “In the future, the USSR will be enriched with a world-class pianist.” On June 11, 1929, Gilels gave his first solo concert. 50 years later, in 1979, he celebrated this event with concerts at the Odessa Opera House and in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1930, Gilels entered the Odessa Conservatory in the B...
Gilels Emil Grigorievich (10/19/1916 - 10/14/1985) - pianist. Born in Odessa. He began to study music early, his first teacher was Ya. I. Tkach, who at one time studied in Paris with the famous Raoul Pugnot (R. Pugnot’s teacher was J. Mathias, a student of Chopin). The weaver immediately realized what kind of talent he was dealing with; Gilels was only 9 years old when the teacher wrote in his description: “In the future, the USSR will be enriched with a world-class pianist.” On June 11, 1929, Gilels gave his first solo concert. 50 years later, in 1979, he celebrated this event with concerts at the Odessa Opera House and in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1930, Gilels entered the Odessa Conservatory in the class of B. M. Reingbald, whom he considered his true musical teacher, and a year later he played at the All-Ukrainian Musicians Competition in Kharkov. In the same 1931, Arthur Rubinstein, who came on tour to Odessa, listened to him, and subsequently more than once recalled his first meeting with Gilels: “I cannot find words to describe how he played. I will say one thing: if he ever comes to the United States , I have nothing to do here." In 1933, at the First All-Union Competition of Performing Musicians, a little-known sixteen-year-old boy in Moscow overturned all predictions regarding the outcome of the competition. “I remember well,” said pianist Maria Grinberg, “how he played Liszt’s Paraphrase on a theme from Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and how at the last climax the whole audience stood up.” Having unconditionally won the competition, Gilels became famous throughout the country. People wanted to listen to him everywhere. And he played a lot, so much that there was not enough time for the necessary quiet work. And then, with his characteristic determination, the young pianist interrupts his concert performances and returns to Odessa, to Reingbald. Having graduated from the conservatory in November 1935, Gilels went to Moscow, to the School of Higher Excellence at the Moscow Conservatory, where G. G. Neuhaus became his director. Soon Otto Klemperer arrives on tour in Moscow, and Gilels plays Beethoven’s Third Concerto with him. Playwright Alexander Afinogenov wrote in his diary: Gilels “...touched the keys - and the piano rang with some purity and soulfulness. And Klemperer led the orchestra, as if laying it under the piano - creating a soft background for the performer, from this the piano benefited even more, and the public appreciated it." In 1938, the Eugene Ysaï International Piano Competition was held in Brussels, the prestige of which was extremely high, and the program was particularly complex. Just the list of names of the jury members can thrill any musician: Walter Gieseking, Emil Sauer, Arthur Rubinstein, Robert Casadesus, Samuel Feinberg, Carlo Zecchi, Leopold Stokowski... The composition of the participants was very strong; suffice it to say that among them was Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. Gilels won a brilliant victory. Emil Sauer, a student of Franz Liszt and Nikolai Rubinstein, said that he had not heard such talent in the last half century, in other words, since the time of his great teachers. But it was not in the musician’s nature to calmly reap the fruits of success - he works hard, without giving himself a break. In the same year, the School of Higher Excellence was left behind, and Gilels began teaching at the Moscow Conservatory. The Great Patriotic War began. Gilels plays in military units, in hospitals, in the rear; one of the first to go to besieged Leningrad. In 1945 he speaks in Potsdam at a conference of heads of government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain. After the end of the war, he was given the most important mission: for the first time to represent Soviet art, the art of the victorious country, in many countries. So, in 1955, he was the first Soviet musician to go on tour to the USA, where he created a sensation. Years passed. Gilels' concert activity acquired global proportions. Wherever he played, triumphs became almost a familiar background. He has performed with the most renowned orchestras and conductors; his records entered the homes of millions of people. On September 12, 1985, Gilels gave a concert in Helsinki, which turned out to be the last of his life; a month later, on October 14, he died suddenly in Moscow. Gilels had an immense repertoire; he was universal in his ability to make music of a wide variety of eras and styles “his own” - from Mozart to Prokofiev, from Beethoven to Stravinsky. Grigory Gordon
GILELS Emil Grigorievich (19.X 1916 - 14.X 1985)
adv. art. USSR (1954), State laureate. (1946) and Lenin (1962) prizes, Hero of Socialist Labor (1976)
Emil Grigorievich did not like to give interviews and rarely appeared in print. Maybe only once did he remember the distant Odessa time. “As a child, I slept little. At night, when everything was quiet, I took my father’s ruler out from under the pillow and began to conduct. The small, dark children’s room turned into a dazzling concert hall. Standing on the stage, I felt the breath of a huge crowd behind me, ahead in anticipation the orchestra froze. I raise my baton, and the air is filled with beautiful sounds. The sounds flow stronger and stronger. Forte, fortissimo!
But then the door usually opened slightly, and the alarmed mother interrupted the concert at the most interesting point; -Are you waving your arms again and singing at night instead of sleeping? Have you taken the ruler again? Give it now and fall asleep in two minutes! I also had important things to do during the day. I wrote a play about a man who wants to study music and become a celebrity.
The premiere of this play took place in the front door of our house. All the children from our yard were involved in the performance. The decorations and decorations consisted of rugs smuggled from the house. I played the main role of a musician and managed to be a prompter at the same time.
My childhood thoughts were completely absorbed in music."
His dream came true, perhaps sooner than he expected.
Eyewitness impressions: “In the crowded Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, there was general excitement. After Gilels performed a fantasy on the theme “The Marriage of Figaro” by Mozart and Liszt, the whole hall stood up. Strangers approached each other, exchanged exclamations of enthusiasm and even entered into heated arguments over the insufficient, in their opinion, praise lavished on E. Gilels. Looking at this buzzing, gesticulating swarm of people, one could immediately and unmistakably determine that a great, joyful event had occurred. The young man stood facing the audience and bowed as calmly as a minute before he had sat at the piano and extracted incomprehensible sounds from it. In general, the most remarkable property of the virtuoso’s external behavior is his complete equanimity. This is not feigned calm, but a natural state dictated by physical and mental health and enormous pop talent."
Yes, A. Alschwang turned out to be absolutely right: the Moscow audience who attended the auditions of the All-Union Competition in 1933 witnessed the birth of one of the leading figures in the performing arts of the 20th century.
The future winner of the competition came to Moscow from Odessa, where at the age of 13 he gave his first independent concert. The teacher of the still very young pianist Ya. I. Tkach extremely insightfully assessed the capabilities of his pupil: “Mil Gilels is an outstanding child in his rare abilities. Nature has gifted him with wonderful hands and a rare ear, which is typical of those who were born exclusively for piano playing.” Truly so; he was born to become a pianist. And in the future, the amazing organic nature of his playing, some kind of internal unity with the keyboard, with the instrument, was repeatedly noted. All this required a careful attitude and hard work under the guidance of an experienced teacher. B. M. Reingbald became such a teacher for Gilels at the Odessa Conservatory. Much later, the outstanding artist pisa.l: “... justice requires saying that my true musical teacher was Berta Mikhailovna... She was a person of great culture... Possessing mental sensitivity, she was able to identify the strengths of her students and awaken their desire bring out your best traits."
Of course, like any great artist, Gilels developed over the years, enriched his inner world, opening up more and more pages of the musical treasury for himself and for people. However, already on the threshold of maturity he was an extremely integral person in artistic terms. “I am absolutely convinced,” said Ya. Flier, congratulating his colleague on his 60th birthday, “that already at the age of 16 Gilels was a world-class pianist. I repeatedly return to this thought: how deaf and short-sighted were some critics and biographers of Gilels who perceived him only as a fantastic virtuoso, who “looked through” (or rather, “listened to”) him as an amazing musician... Already in his youth, Gilels’ art was a rare fusion of artistic intelligence, creative imagination, natural pianism, an excellent sense of form and style. .. For me, Emil Grigorievich’s performing path is a single monolith.”
Despite the stunning beginning, the development of Gilels as an artist generally occurred with fundamental consistency. An important role in this process was played by the years of improvement under G. G. Neuhaus at the Higher School of Artistic Excellence (current assistant-internship) of the Moscow Conservatory (1935-1938). During this period, world fame came to the young pianist. Following the second prize at the Vienna Competition (1936), a triumphant victory at the International E. Ysaye Competition in Brussels (1938). Since then, decades of tireless concert activity around the world have brought Gilels to the ranks of the greatest pianists of our time.
It is extremely difficult to briefly characterize the most significant features of the creative appearance of a great and multifaceted artist (namely, Gilels). To a large extent, one of Spinoza’s subtle paradoxes is true: “To define is to limit.” And yet, one can agree with Y. Milstein when he writes: “The first thing that distinguishes Gilels is the masculinity and strong-willed intensity of the game. His performance is completely alien to sentimentality, mannerisms, and effeminacy. Masculinity in Gilels captivates not only in places of rise, but even in gloomy, melancholic episodes, he always has a few stern and deliberately restrained. Gilels' artistic thinking does not know exaltation and pretentiousness. In everything one can feel an excess of healthy energy, naturally flowing from his nature... This is realistic, life-affirming art, close-up art , energetic lines and colors."
The above observation dates back to 1948, when the artist had behind him not only his bright youth, but also the harsh years of the war, performances for front-line soldiers in besieged Leningrad, and his first foreign tours. Almost ten years later, G. Kogan seems to continue the quoted passage: “Gilels is all earthly, all on earth. The unstoppable force of life triumphantly rejoices in the pianist’s playing, splashes out from under his fingers, saturating the hall with electricity: the listeners seem to become younger, their eyes sparkle , the blood circulates faster in the veins. The artist’s element is powerful dynamic build-ups, the music is courageous and powerful. His piano sounds unusually dense, massive, “weighty.”
The mid-50s is already the time for worldwide recognition of the artist, who was one of the first to represent Soviet pianistic art on the stages of many countries, including the United States of America.
And finally, one more characteristic that reinforces the previous ones. I. Popov wrote in 1970: “In terms of emotional fullness, in terms of the imperious imperativeness of musical speech, his creative style is reminiscent of the interpretation of musical works by the largest conductors of our time. Nothing external, no sound ramplissages, no deliberate effects, no commonplaces. Every phrase sounds bright and impressive. All details are sculpturally sculpted, and at the same time, they are all correlated with the whole, serving to identify the main musical and dramatic concept of the work... The pianist's performing concepts are always amazingly simple. But this is the highest simplicity, which is diametrically opposed to primitiveness and is its antipode.. "There is nothing more difficult in art than to achieve this lofty simplicity, these heights of mastery from which vast imaginative distances open up." So, it would seem that Gilels’ artistic credo has not undergone any significant changes over the years. No, only a superficial understanding will lead to such a conclusion. All the mentioned features really formed the foundation of the pianist’s artistic constructions. And it is quite natural that he rightfully gained a reputation as an excellent interpreter of Beethoven's work. Reread the above statements again, and it will become clear to you how the general orientation of Gilels’ art corresponds to the content of many of Beethoven’s works, and in particular his five piano concertos, the interpretation of which became one of the most outstanding achievements of the mature Gilels. The artist’s long journey led him to Beethoven’s cycles, during which he mastered all sorts of repertoire areas - from the virtuosity of Liszt’s fantasies and rhapsodies to the deep concentration of Schubert or Brahms.
Gilels brought a lot of trouble to critics. Having included the pianist in the ranks of the outstanding “Beethovenists,” they sometimes excluded, for example, Mozart from Gilels’s “possessions.” Later, the artist’s Mozart programs evoked the most enthusiastic responses. It's the same with Chopin. One reviewer noted in 1972 that it was simply difficult to recognize the “collected and disciplined Gilels” when he was “in a state of ecstatic frenzy” while performing Chopin’s First Ballade. Gilels himself once remarked that he loved the “resistance of the material.” And he always overcame it...
The pianist's repertoire is, of course, enormous, and it is impossible here to even briefly touch on all its aspects. Nevertheless, it should be noted that Gilels had a special interest in Russian classics. Everyone knows the truly standard interpretation of Tchaikovsky's First Concerto. However, Gilels acted as a convinced promoter of two other concerts of the great composer. The artist’s role is also extremely significant in the “rehabilitation” of Medtner’s piano heritage. It is difficult to exaggerate Gilels's services to Soviet music. In his Programs we find major works by D. Shostakovich, A. Khachaturian, D. Kabalevsky, M. Weinberg, A. Babajanyan and, of course, S. Prokofiev. Gilels performed S. Prokofiev's Eighth Sonata for the first time.
Gilels's artistic, musical and social activities are varied. In the 40-50s, he paid considerable attention to ensemble performance, performing in instrumental duets of various compositions, trios, together with the Beethoven Quartet. One might say that an artist’s recordings on records are marked with a “sign of quality”; Among the latter, perhaps, first of all, we should highlight the recording of all five Beethoven concertos accompanied by an orchestra conducted by the American conductor D. Sell.
Since 1938, Gilels taught at the Moscow Conservatory, and since 1952 he was its professor. Among his students are laureates of international competitions I. Zhukov, M. Mdivani and others.
Emil Gilels enjoyed the highest authority in the music world. He was constantly invited to the jury of major performing arts competitions (Paris, Brussels, etc.). It was he who headed the pianistic jury of the first four international Tchaikovsky competitions. Gilels was elected an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London (1967), honorary professor of the Budapest Conservatory (1968) and honorary academician of the Rome Academy "Santa Cecilia" (1980), awarded the gold medal of the city of Paris (1967), the Belgian Order of Leopold I (1968) and many other high awards.
For about half a century, music lovers met with Emil Gilels. But hardly anyone could claim that he already knew everything in the palette of the remarkable pianist. Each of his concerts was the discovery of new worlds in the field of artistic thought. “Among our artists who are at the zenith of fame and creative maturity,” wrote G. Shokhman in the magazine “Musical Life,” Gilels is distinguished, perhaps, by the greatest dynamism: in his art some changes are constantly taking place, and, in addition to the previously anticipated , “guaranteed by name and past meetings, at the pianist’s concerts you often come across unexpected and sometimes even stunning evidence of the artist’s intense, one might say, explosive inner spiritual life.” That is why it would be so appropriate in conclusion to recall, in application to Gilels, paraphrasing Pushkin’s line about Rossini, who was “eternally the same, eternally new”...
Literature: Delson V. Emil Gilels. - M., 1959; Rabinovich D. Portraits of pianists.-M., 1970; Khentova S. Emil Gilels. - M., 1967; Lenin Prize laureates. Sat. - M., 1970; The pride of Soviet music. - M., 1987.
Quote Based on the book: Grigoriev L., Platek J. “Modern pianists”. Moscow, "Soviet Composer", 1990
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